The Falcon Flies Again
by Hector Flores
Summary: Rick joins the military with his brother, during the maiden launch of the newly rebuilt space fortress. An attack leads Rick on a path that would him changing in so many ways, many which he never expected.
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

I guess I should really tell you a little bit about myself and my family before I get to head of myself. My name is Rick, Rick Hunter. I am the son of the man who runs and operates a flying circus. What is a flying circus you ask? It's a group of men and women who fly airplanes in various maneuvers to entertain a crowd.

I have been flying in planes longer than I can remember, all my family has. Some would say father and mother only had me, but I always felt that Roy was as much a brother as anyone born into the Hunter Family. I, in fact, called him Roy Hunter sometimes but his real name is Roy Folker.

If there was anything that disrupted our happy go lucky life was the constant war that was happening around our world. I swear at times I pictured the leaders of the nations of our world like a bunch of gang leaders fighting over who owns the turf.

I was happy flying with my family, well I was until I heard my brother tell me something I never pictured. He actually enlisted to become a fighter pilot. Dad was angry and Mom was crying for days after she heard the news. The only thing I could feel is that I was worried for my brother. I couldn't let him depend on those substandard pilots.

So in the very next day that Roy shocked my folks with his news, I decided to make it a double shock. I told them to flat out that I would not abandon my brother and that I too would join the military as a fighter pilot.

"Now listen to me Rick, I am older and you can't leave mom and dad all alone." I looked at my brother and laughed, "Yea, your older but guess what big brother I am an adult too. I will join even if you tell me not to do it. I am not abandoning you to let you risk your life with those adrenalin junkies."

I looked at him and placed my hand on his shoulder. "The Hunter brothers always fly together, no matter the situation, weather, or danger. So come on big brother we need to report to base. You guess it, I signed my papers the same day you did."

Military pilots were, of course, all officers, which means long before we got to sit on our fighter planes we had to go through officer's training. I swear I will have a nightmare about that Drill Instructor for years, that was what I felt as we both completed our officer's training.

The fighter plane actually was not that different from what I have flown before, sure it had a few more knobs, switches, and pedals, but once I heard what everything does I was like a fish to water.

We began flying missions together and we saved each other's lives plenty of times. The other time we were together was during our leave, and that is when I met the lady I would call my sister from that day on.

Claudia is a Nubian beauty, meaning that she had a great figure, curly hair, and a smile that would make you want to smile too. I remember how many times I had to cheer up Roy when he kept getting shot down every time he tried asking her out on a date.

It took him having to do a crash landing on the field she was the radar operator to finally make her realize that as much as she enjoyed rejecting his advances, she enjoyed his company a lot more.

"So sis, you finally realized you love this knucklehead. I don't know if I should congratulate Roy or offer you my condolences." This made Claudia laugh and Roy scowl at me. I had to dodge a pillow and as I walked towards the door I decided to say something that made him stop scowling at me.

"Alright big bro, I can tell when I am the third wheel here. Just be mindful you two, careful you don't place any order with a certain stork before walking down the aisle." This made Roy and Claudia laugh as I left. In truth, I wish I had as much luck as my big brother. Why couldn't I find a nice lady for myself?

As the war continued we rose in ranks and as the fighting was getting more and more intense someone had the brilliant idea of knocking up an admiral's daughter then blame me for it. I guess these idiots never heard of a DNA test, but I was given a choice. The choice was between Early retirement, or Court Martial and Dishonorable Discharge.

"Rick we both know you didn't sleep with that teenager, and a simple DNA test on the brat she has in her would prove it." I looked at Roy and could not help but to feel better after he said that, Claudia flat out said it wouldn't matter since the entire thing was the admiral trying to save face.

So, in the end, thanks to an egotistical admiral, his slutty underage daughter, and bad luck I was forced into Early Retirement with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. As I walked out of the base and I saw my precious Corsair, and the men of my squad I wanted to cry. I went from being the leader of the Skull squadron to being a civilian faster than I ever dreamed thanks to that hussy.

The only upside was that my parents were at least happy that I came home alive. The air show really got popular and thanks to all those things I learned we managed to pull even more amazing flight routines. Some of the guys would even enact some of our nation's most harrowing victories using paintballs.

It didn't help me much since those victories were pretty much thanks to me and my big brother. Roy got the nickname of the Hawk of Andemian, and I, of course, got the nickname the Falcon of Gibraltar.

That was when something happening that would cause my life to change forever. A giant out of space fortress of unknown origin came crashing down on an island in the Japan sea. The resources needed to study, rebuild and reverse engineer the things on the ship was massive, so much so that the entire world decided to wake up and put an end to the war.

I sort of figured my big brother and I hope by then his blushing wife would come on home, but it has been five years and I didn't get a letter from either of them. It was like the earth had swallowed them whole.

As time went on I just figured they were having too much fun dating and living together to even think about little old me.

Out of nowhere I got an invitation to a place I never even knew existed, a placed called Macross Island, I guess an entire city grew around that old alien space fortress. I decided to go in one of our rapid propulsion jets, and boy did I think these so called pilots needed to learn to fly.

The routines they were flying were boring, stereotypical, I mean you see them all the time in movies, but after so many times it has no imagination, no thrill. They might as well be driving a milk delivery truck or a school bus.

I decided to show them how it was really done. I hit the propulsion button on my cockpit and decided to really show the crowd something exciting. That is when someone managed to get a communication through my headset.

"Rick Hunter, what in blazes do you think you are doing? Get down here, you are making my unit look bad doing stunts like that. Your father never taught you to fly so recklessly." I was not going to let that go, "Hey, big bro just making the crowds happy. You do remember that stunt you pulled over the Andes and you got the nerve to call me reckless."

Roy was really losing his patience if the color language he used next was any indication. "I don't want to hear you say that. You get that flying junk heap out of the air or I am going up there and making you land even if I have to shoot you down."

I didn't want this plane destroyed, dad would skin me alive and use my skin to make himself a new belt. I landed and as soon as I did I could see Roy running towards me. As I climbed down from the cockpit, he threw his microphone to the ground shattering it into a few dozen pieces.

"Some welcome big brother, you were supposed to come home after the war was over. That was our deal, remember?" I looked at him and for once, he didn't have a snappy comeback. He looked really sorry to me, but I was still very mad at him.

I walked over to a soda vending machine and got myself a can of my favorite soda. "Look, Rick, I wanted to tell you. Honestly, I wanted to invite you to join this project, but since I got caught up in testing the new research that they are doing with this alien tech. I sort of lost track of time."

I looked at him as I finished my soda and threw the can into the recycling bin. "So that would also include how my Corsair was dismantled for parts? Don't even try to deny it. You might want to keep all these new planes to yourself, but at least one person told me what happened to my plane."

Roy let out a big sigh, "I should have known better than to tell her about it. It is no surprise Claudia would tell you about it. Honestly, I think the reason you are without a girlfriend is because you seem to love that flying death trap so much."

Now I was really angry, "Should I remind you how many times I saved your life on that plane?" I began to walk towards one of the planes on display, and I had to admit it did look quite impressive.

"Look, Rick, I am sorry, but I also didn't tell you cause mom asked me to. She didn't exactly jump up in sheer joy when we both got into the military. You were always her baby boy after all."

I saw the plane and it had the ladder down, which means I could climb into the cockpit. "I know what you are thinking Rick, go ahead and climb aboard. Maybe once you see how these new Veritechs fly you will understand why I got caught up in testing them."

Just as I was finished seeing a new control display, the controls there was a massive alarm coming from the reconstructed fortress. The front end open and a large energy build-up was seen between the now two halves of the flight deck that separated during the alarm. It fired a massive beam of energy that cut a mountain down to a hill and even made the see part from the heat.

"Roy I don't think that was part of the celebration. You better get on your plane. I guess you and your squadron are about to be told to scramble." He laughed as he told me it was not his squadron only, but also used to be mine.

"I am going to need a hand with enemy our fortress detected little brother, so you get cozy in that cockpit. I might need you to watch my six after all." Sure enough thousands of strange vehicles came down from orbit, I guess the only way I could call them was battle pods, it was mostly a round ball with two legs and weapons mounted on the exterior.

"Get to your ship, I will launch and buy you and the squadron some time. Just to be clear, you owe me one for this." He jumped down to the ground and ran to clear the surrounding so I could move the plane to launch.

As soon as I was flying I began to blast the enemy one and after the other. I had to admit I was loving this controls, and the aim assistance on this plane was spectacular. I could target more than five enemy and fire missiles with one press of the trigger.

I immediately saw one of the planes be chased by one of the pods, it was having trouble shaking the damn thing from his trail. "Back left, I got it." I guess my communication line with the plane worked because as he did as I told him I took care of the enemy.

"Thanks, LT that thing was giving me a hard time." I laughed as I knew who this person was. The was one of the pilots I helped train back in the war.

"Hang on close till you get ready to ditch your training wheels, Jimmy. I will be your wingman."

We both began to blast away the enemy and sure was nice to fly with a member of my squadron again. I guess I never realized how much I missed flying with them.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

That idiot just had to crash land into a building, didn't he. I swear these aliens seem like they don't even know how urban fighting is done. I just had to fly down there and rescue a poor girl who was screaming her head off for help.

That is when I got my first look at the enemy, the man was taller than the building I got the civilian out of. I guess it finally made sense. They saw the size of the corridors in the crashed alien ship and of course, they realized the crew must be giants. To fight these giants they must have developed something to make us able to fight on an even ground.

I wonder if that what these levers I didn't recognize were for. I decided to push the level labeled B and immediately my plane began to change. Good thing I strapped the girl to the copilot seat.

I was loving this mode. I felt like I was fighting as a regular soldier all over again. I blasted the enemy pods a lot quicker without having to worry about hitting the buildings. As my newly transformed plane walked on the ground. I could aim for their legs and then finish them off.

In plane mode, I would had to use my missiles, and that would cause no end to the collateral damage to the city. I saw a light flashing on my display and I knew it was Roy calling me. "So Rick did you get used to the Veritech? From what I saw I say you have. Who's the girl in there with you? Should I be concerned that my baby brother is a cradle robber?"

I could hear someone laughing from my copilot seat, and I knew she found this funny. I sure didn't find as funny. "I don't have time for jokes. If you don't have anything important to say. Clear the channel. I got a lot of these frigging giants to take care off. Better yet tell me where the nearest shelter is so that I can take this civilian."

Roy was laughing his head off as he heard me say that, "It's fifty yards from your current location. I know you knew to Macross City, it had as red star emblem on the outside of the staircase. It's pretty hard to miss, it's probably the biggest staircase any civilian outside of Macross has ever seen."

I switched to guardian a continued to blast the pods as I headed towards the staircase as soon as I reached and helped out of the plane, she grabbed my hand. "My name is Linn Minmay, can I know the name of the man who saved me?"

I was watching to see if there were any pods in the area, so I looked at her for a brief moment, "Rick Hunter. Now we don't have time to chat, miss. I need you to get in the shelter. I have a few people I need to watch out for and a whole lot of enemies to deal with. This is no place for a civilian to get caught in."

As I watched run towards the shelter I hoped that this teen didn't develop a crush on me. I would hear no end to the teasing my brother and Claudia would do about this. I climbed up the ladder into the cockpit, and I took off in fighter mode. I managed to keep most of my former squad safe and even saved Roy a couple of times.

"Rick we need to head back to the fortress. They apparently are taking off to see if they can draw the enemy away from the city and the shelters." The next thing I knew I saw the fortress try to take off, I say try because for some reason part of the ship broke through and the ship fell down again.

They finally tried to take off using what I would say conventional propulsion, then again anything on that fortress was hardly conventional, to begin with. "Skull leader mind telling me who is it that hijacked one of our Veritechs. He is not registered in the pilot roster or bothered to register on the Veritech controls."

Someone sure had a high opinion of themselves. The voice was clearly a woman, but one that was so arrogant I wonder if she even realized we were in the middle of an alien invasion. "Of course, he is not registered, he is a fighter pilot that was forced into early retirement. As for why he didn't bother to sign in on his plane? He was too busy bothering some young lady, I had to rescue her from him and take her to a shelter."

That was it, I was angry enough to blast a few missiles at him and call it friendly fire. "Roy if you don't change your story. I will tell Claudia about that time we went to that party in Hawaii. I don't think you want me to do that do you big brother?"

Roy turned pale as he heard me say that, "On second thought, I told him to get in the fighter, but didn't tell him how to sign in. I also seem to remember he was too busy taking the formerly mentioned girl to the shelter and keeping me and most of my squadron alive."

I decided to call the control officer myself, "Look, you can lecture me about procedures and regulations later. I just need a landing bay. My fighter is nearly out of ammo, and there are enough enemy giants out here to call it a giant's version of Woodstock."

I waited for a few seconds, "Landing bay five, with the rest of Skull squadron. Be warned an armed guard escort shall take you into custody as soon as you land. I highly advise you to surrender without giving them too much trouble, if you want to live that is."

I decided to give her a nice shock before she decided to close off the communication between the fortress and my plane. "Such harsh words, don't suit a beautiful face like yours." I ended the communication between us and prepared to land in bay five.

Sure enough, the people of the fortress did send an armed guard detail, much to their dismay they had been people I was on good terms during my days in the military. "Lieutenant Commander, nice to see you alive and well sir. Captain Gloval has instructed us that he wants to see you in his office."

Gloval had been one of the few officers that actually defended me and were against me getting forced into an early retirement. I guess I knew of at least three officers that were happy I came. "Come on Steve, let's find the Captain. The last thing I want is for you guys to get into trouble because of me."

As I was guided towards the office I saw that this fortress has a feel and look of an aircraft carrier. We finally came to a stop and Steve knocked his fist against the door. "Captain, we got Rick Hunter as requested."

A few seconds later and I heard that unmistakable voice one I could never forget. "Come right in Rick. I want to have a word with you in private." I thank the guys for guiding me to the captain's office. They left as I opened the door and I got a smell that I knew was burning tobacco. He was still smoking that pipe it seems.

"Rick nice to see you again, come right, make yourself comfortable. You can make yourself a drink if you want something to relax." I see no reason why so I walked over the bar and decided to pour in some vodka and a few ice cubes into two glasses. I took them both to his desk and set his on it. I sat down on the armchair in front of it with mine.

"Thanks, Rick, I am supposed to give you a stern lecture about how you just broke a dozen military regs, and how you will spend the better half of this decade in prison. But who are we kidding, I am happy that you were able to help out your brother and your old squadron. Most of our pilots are so green, it is a miracle more of them didn't die today."

I took a drink from my glass and saw this was a good brand. "No problem, sir. I have to admit those Veritechs are a pleasure to fly. I imagine the Earth Defense main branch is pretty much in line with those that forced me into early retirement. A pity, I would have loved to pilot one of those new planes."

He was drinking from his cup and was half done with his drink as I finished telling him that, "Actually Rick I have a bit of a request for you. High Command is damned I need more experienced pilots. As you can tell these aliens are more experienced than our pilots. It would be a real benefit to having the Falcon of Gibraltar flying for us."

He finished his drink and looked at me like I don't remember ever seeing him look at me, "Rick if you accept I am willing to give you back your old rank, pay and even let you fly with your brother again. Think about it? Wouldn't you want to fly again with the Skull Squadron?"

I finished my glass and placed it on the little table next to my armchair. "I was not about to abandon my brother or the remaining members of my old squad Captain. I will fly for you till you either tell me to stop or till High Command decides to execute me. Now the only problem is I didn't exactly pack a bag. I don't have any essentials, no uniforms since those changed, and I don't know where I am going to bunk."

I heard a knock and sure enough, Claudia was entering the office. She stood at attention and as soon as she was permitted she walked over to me. "Still a show off are you fly boy? You had me and your brother worried sick about you. We haven't heard anything from you in years. And what was that about Hawaii?"

Captain Gloval was stunned to see that I knew my brother's love interest so well that she was this casual with me. "Claudia I need you to get four sets of uniforms and other personal items to the Lieutenant Commander here. He also needs to be shown his living quarters. I am sure you two have a lot to catch up on. I do however need him to take care of these things."

He turned to me, "As soon as you are done with these things, I need you to report to the flight deck. No rest for the wicked or so the saying goes. I need you to out there taking care of these aliens. If the situation goes bad, I will attempt a fold operation and that has never been tested, much like most of the systems on this fortress."

I looked at him and smiled, "I will be out there taking care of this alien garbage before you can finish your second pipe. Nice to be working with you again, sir." I left as soon as he gave both of us permission.

The quartermaster was not as glad to see me, but in the end, she gave me everything that I required. I left her depository hearing that she hoped some alien pumped me full of holes. "I guess Anna never got over the fact that I was not interested in her at all. In Hawaii Roy had a horde of college girls chasing him around, wearing nothing but their bikinis. He told them time and time again that he was spoken for, but since you two never got married. They didn't believe him since he didn't have a ring on his finger."

"And why didn't these bimbos try to hit on you instead?" I simply told her that I was wearing white pants, and a pink flowery Hawaiian shirt. For all, I knew they probably thought that I was gay.

She had to ask me who in the world gave me that shirt in the first place, I stopped and it looked like they already placed my name on the door. I looked at her and smiled, "Don't you remember Claudia? You gave me that shirt as a birthday present."

As I walked in and placed all my new uniforms on the hangers, I took one that was a flight suit, some boots, and a pair of gloves. I went into the bathroom and changed. I tossed what I was wearing into the hamper by the shower.

Claudia was actually making my bed as soon as I walked out, "Well thanks for helping me do that sis, but I won't be getting any sleep. I have to deploy right now, remember? Which reminds me who was that lady that was glaring at me before?"

She got off the bed where she was seated and smiled, "She is just the top of the academy of her year, flight control officer Lisa Hayes. Could it be that my little brother is interested in the most feared woman on this entire ship? I never thought it possible, but could this be love at first sight?"

I looked at her and she decided to drop her teasing, "Look, Claudia, as far as I can tell the lady hates my guts. If she could I could probably be looking for an attorney for my defense in the court martial she would ask if not beg high command for. I will admit, she has a beautiful face, and I happen to like the way she did her hair, but that's it."

As we both walked down the corridor she went towards the bridge, and I went towards the landing bay where my plane was. The very same plane that got me into this mess, I guess life does love ironic situations.

I signed into the controls of the plane, and I began to move the plane towards the flight deck. "Rick Hunter, Skull Squadron taking off." I got the signal from the deck crew and I took off at high speed. The aliens were not as many as before, it seems they had begun to pull their forces back.

Under different circumstances, I would say the aliens were retreating. This was hardly normal circumstances. I knew something very bad was about to happen, and it was proven by the enemy pulling their soldiers back. Which means they were planning to lessen their own casualties.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

I knew it as I could see the energy build up on my scanners. "All friendly units, retreat to the fortress, I repeat this is Lieutenant Commander Rick Hunter ordering all friendly units to retreat. Stay and suffer the consequences."

I decided to show I was not kidding, I began to fly towards the landing bay and I decided to stay the last to dock. It was mere seconds before the orbital attack came. "This is Captain Gloval, we are conducting a fold operation. I repeat, brace yourselves we are conducting an experimental fold operation."

The entire place began to shake and I swear I was seeing the surrounding shift in color, and I almost had a sense of vertigo. My radar indicated that the fortress was headed into a crash course for a large land mass. What could that land mass be? As far as I knew we were in space, an asteroid maybe?

I got out of my plane and decided to check with the bridge, for some odd reason the communication channel was not responding. As I entered the bridge I knew why, everyone had been either knocked out, knock down or dazed. I saw Claudia trying to get on her feet. I ran towards her, "Don't worry sis, I am here. Come on, lean on my shoulder."

As soon as she got to her feet I saw that woman that was supposedly named Lisa Hayes. I went there and found that she was out cold. I decided to pick her up in a bridal carry and take her to the infirmary. I still don't know why I did it, but something about her lying on the deck bleeding made me react this way.

As I was getting out I lost my balance as the fortress hit something, I imagine we really hit that asteroid. I got off the ground and walked back to the bridge. "Captain, what exactly did we just hit?"

Captain Gloval looked at me and smiled, "As far as we can tell we are in orbit with the planet Pluto. Engineering just called that the fold engines are missing, and we just crash landed on the island Macross. Apparently, we brought it and some other aircraft carriers with us when we conducted the fold."

"Boshe moi, what an unmitigated disaster. We need to get the people out of the shelters and into the fortress before they freeze to death, and we are going to be in need for supplies to feed all those extra people. We estimate there will be no less than 20,000 extra mouths to feed."

I looked at the Captain and I could see he was worried, "Don't worry, sir. You know you can count on me, my brother and the rest of Skull Squadron." He smiled at me and nodded his head.

"I guess I was correct in having you rejoin our forces, Rick, you have no idea how good it is to have officers I can rely on. Tell the Squadron to take the five transport ships and begin transferring the civilians, I need Vermillion to take the shoppers to begin towing the carriers alongside the fortress."

"Let us hope they have all their supplies, but I imagine there will be a lot of dead aboard those carriers. So tell the chaplain that we might need to conduct a mass burial."

I went to talk with Roy and the squadron, Claudia went and took care of the rest. If you could say something about my big sister it was that she was good at multitasking. I wanted to take a nap after helping so many people carry their things onto the empty space that would become their refuge aboard the space fortress.

I couldn't take my nap because I had to help with the integration of the two aircraft carriers to the fortress. The thing was I was not able to do the technical, but I was able to carry the bodies of our dead soldiers. The chaplain decided to use some of the large furnaces as a crematorium.

I couldn't help feel sad as I carried and deposited all those bodies, some of them had been good friends of mine. As the priest said the funeral rights, the flames burned the bodies to ashes and those ashes were pushed into space. I understand the reason, we simply didn't have anywhere to store all their ashes.

At long last, I was basically crawling back to my room, and just before I opened it two people grabbed me by my arms and began to drag me off somewhere. "Oh, come on, can you give a guy a break? I just need 5 minutes, no maybe 10 minutes of sleep, no better make that an hour."

I heard Claudia laughing and I knew who was dragging me. "No can do little brother, you also need to eat, and you haven't eaten anything all day. So we are taking you to the mess hall whether you like it or not."

I told them to let me go, as I turned around I looked at them both, "I don't know when, but mark my words I will even on both you eventually." I began walking to the mess hall and saw that most of the seats were occupied already.

"So you drag me to the mess hall, only to find there is no available seat for any of us. Brilliant, just brilliant. What is going to happen next? The only thing left is a packet of peanuts and a glass of water?"

Roy walked over to a table and saw a bunch of teenagers seated at the table, almost waiting for someone to come and take their order. "Hey, you are not part of the crew of this ship. You eat with the rest of the refugees. Now get up and go to the place assigned to you."

I saw the punks pretty much give my big brother the finger and ignored him. That was it, now I was really mad. I walked over to where my big brother was and pulled out my side arm. "You know big brother, six punks would hardly be any loss to the refugees, in fact, it might make their situation better having a little more food, without these punks to feed."

I was ready to kill them when they all ran away crying and looking positively terrified. "Rick I think that was a little bit over the top. They meant us no harm." I looked at him and couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Roy in any other situation, if a bunch of punch tried to enter a military facility without clearance, they would have been executed as potential security hazards. The Captain may allow these people to live aboard the space fortress but in the end of the day. It's a military vessel, and discipline must always be enforced. I was not going to kill them, I was trying to scare them into realizing that they can't get away with trying to get their way with me or the crew."

I put my sidearm back into my hip holster and walked over to the cook. "Do you happen to have any ramen left? I just need a nice noodle soup, with lots of vegetables and thick broth."

I don't know why and I really don't want to know why. The cook looked at me and was so happy that I actually said that, he looked like he wanted to hug me. "Finally someone on this bucket of bolts that has an appreciation for true cuisine. You just wait right there, I will get you some of the best ramen this world has ever seen."

I had a nice bowl of ramen and endured much teasing from what I like to call tag team teasing torture. Roy and Claudia would take turns trying to see what embarrassed me the most, the real torture began when they started mentioning our flight control officer. Things like if I noticed how beautiful she was, and how her figure was, and what a nice her hips and behind she has.

"Could you two please stop talking like that, it is embarrassing to hear you talk about her this way. I mean for crying out loud if she was here it is blatant sexual harassment. I am ashamed that you Claudia would say such things, don't you remember hearing this kind of thing when you met Roy?"

She began to laugh and sure enough she did tell me she remembered quite well. It was almost the reason why she avoided him so much. "Look, little brother, we are just giving you hints, that going after Lisa might not be such a bad idea. I mean I would hate to see you see me and Roy be happy and you be the poor celibate uncle to our kids."

I had enough of those comments and I decided to put an end to this torture session, "Do I need to remind you that I was the guy you were dating, sleeping with and then what did you do? You dumped me for my big brother, do you think you should be telling me to go after your friend? Which by the way I get the feeling hates my guts."

Just my bad luck she just had to walk near enough to hear me say that. She marched right next to Claudia and with her arms crossed, which didn't help much since it sort of made me want to look at a part of her figure that would land me in even more hot water,

"There is no guessing about this, I do hate his guts. He is a flashy, arrogant, inexperienced fly boy who behaves like he knows everything in creation." I sure didn't need this when I was on duty. I sure didn't need it now.

"Well if you will excuse me, I need to check on my plane. Unlike some people who just leave that sort of check up to the maintenance crew. Honestly, Lisa, you hate my guts, well spend a few moments with these two. Take my advice and ask them to repeat everything that they both said about you."

I got up and began to walk towards the area of the fortress where maintenance was being done on my plane. I learned one thing from my days in the flying circus, always, and I mean always be nice to the people that fix your plane. The second thing I also learned was never be mean to the person who prepares your food. Mom sure made us learn that one the hard way.

One tasteless joke from dad and the entire group of pilots had to drink foul-tasting chalky tasting liquids to make diarrhea stop.

"So chief how's my plane? Will it be ready to fly tomorrow?" She laughed and patted my back. The plane is fine, it's you who are the real problem. How many times do I have to tell you to watch your fuel gauge? You had a full line rupture, had it happened in any other plane we be scrapping you off the ground."

I looked at her and smiled, "Boy if this doesn't make me feel better. I just had one of the worst meals in my life." She just had to ask what could be wrong. The food on the fortress was some of the best in the entire fleet.

I had to tell her everything that happened and as I finished she was giving me a sort of sympathetic look. "I see what you mean Rick, but I get the feeling your friends are right if she really hates you enough to actually name specific details. I hate to tell you buddy but that sounds like the beginning of a romance to me."

The last thing I needed was a high ranking officer trying to do me in again. "No, there can be no romance between us, I mean it would be a miracle for that lady to stop hating my guts, and I don't even remember why she hates me so much. I have known her for less than a week."

My friend just had to mention the nickname I got during my time fighting in the war, and I was shaking my head as I heard it once again. I didn't do half of the scandalous things that have been attributed to me. I am a very respectful, honest, and honorable person. There is no way I would shame my parents by doing the things they said I did.

"Anyways I need to get ready to go on patrol. Thanks for the food, great as always. You should really take my advice and open a restaurant." She laughed and said her brother did have a rather nice Chinese restaurant back on the island.

As I went trough the final checks on my plane, I was ready to get on board when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "So Rick, plan to continue to run away from a potential romance just because of what happened to you before?"

I turned around and look at Roy, "I rather say I am focused on defending this fortress against a horde of giant aliens that want to kill us all. Over twenty thousand civilians are depending on us to ensure they get to continue to live. I think that is more important than an impossibly unlikely romance between me and a woman who would not shed a tear if I was vaporized."

As I climbed back up the ladder and got ready to board my plane I knew Roy wanted to have the final say, "That is what I thought about me and Claudia and look at us little brother."

I climbed into the cockpit, I was not going to give him the satisfaction of having the final say, "It is as likely as I turning into one of those giant aliens, adopted by a general in their army and end up the squadron leader with a pilot married to one of the giant aliens."

I took off and began my patrol around the SDF or as many came to call it my new home. "Skull three where the hell do you think you are going?" Speak of the devil there was Lisa Hayes.

"On patrol, as dictated by the duty roster. Now if you will excuse me, we need to keep the comm channel open for actual emergencies." I turned off the communications channel as I saw the rather angry glare Lisa was giving me.

"And people think me and this grump will eventually have a romantic relationship. I will admit it, if she was only a little nicer I could see me trying to woe her. She sure is beautiful, but who wants to enter a relationship where one in the couple hates the guts of the other. Darn it, I need to forget about what those two said and focus on my duty."


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

As the fortress got to the Saturn the enemy seems to get more and more aggressive, almost as if they either wanted something from our home, or they just wanted to kill us while the SDF was in space. It made perfect sense to me, they have the advantage in space.

As I sat down on the chair ready to hear the briefing on our newest mission to catch the enemy by surprise, it was something Captain Gloval called a blitzkrieg, I for one seem to remember that particular battle tactic a bit differently.

We were supposed to take a few squadron of Veritech and wait for an enemy in the shadow that one the moons of Saturn made. I didn't like this idea, it almost felt like they have these massive fortresses themselves, couldn't they just bombard the rings to oblivion and us with them?

In the end, I have to say about it, my superiors give me an order and I must follow it to the letter or suffer the consequences. As I went to the hangar to do my checkup of my plane. I saw a rare sight, Roy was actually doing checking his planes systems. I decided to see if my brother needed any help.

I did these checkups since before they even invented the Veritechs. I got done with mine rather quickly, as I walked I saw the reason why. Claudia was there with him, so him checking his plane's systems was an excuse for the two of them to spend some time together it seems.

I saw them kissing pretty passionately as I got close to the plane. "Don't mind me, I will take care of the checking of these systems and be on my way." I began checking the systems of my brother's plane and saw he actually should do this a lot more.

"You might want to reassure your lover that everything is alright and give her a kiss. We don't want her to be too distracted during battle." That was what got their attention and they were rather shocked to see me doing what Roy was supposed to be doing.

"Good advice little brother, except why don't you follow it instead of only giving us that sagely advice?" I looked at her and the smiling face of Roy and knew this was going to end up in a way I was not going to like. I decided to concentrate on his plane's systems and told them because it would not apply to me.

"Hold on Rick, what do you mean that advice does not apply to you?" I looked at Roy and told him his plane had a few system problems and that they were taken care off. "Look, Roy, I don't have a girlfriend, lover, or even a friend with benefits, so I got no one to kiss and make sure she knows I am coming back to her."

"Oh, yes you do. Have we forgotten about a certain Hayes?" I told her that I was not gay and I was quite certain Admiral Hayes was not either since he was the father of our flight control. Roy punched me in the shoulder as I finished saying that.

"That isn't the Hayes my blushing bride was talking about. Come on Rick, you know you both have so much in common. You and Lisa would make a wonderful grumpy couple." I glared at both of them and was ready to say something with a bit of shall we say colorful language choices, but my mother didn't raise me that way.

"Except that she hates my guts, and I think she would rather kiss a pit bull rather than even think about me that way. Now come on you two I need to go and do this blind flight through an ocean of ice meteors. The last thing I need is to hear a stern lecture about military protocol while I do that."

I went back to my plane and I swear I could hear those two laughing their heads off as I left. The mission was not that difficult, the fact that I got used to the fact that these planes could fly in space had been more shocking in fact.

I kept an eye on my instruments and one on the possible Ice mountains I might crash into. For a second I even considered it, I might actually escape my brother's attempt to get me and a certain flight operator in something that might resemble a relationship.

The other big change was that the ship could use the main weapon again, granted after a rather extensive transformation. If there was anything amazing was that the refugees actually rebuilt an entire city inside the SDF. If that was not amazing enough, they also opened shops and business, it was like we were in a city back on Earth.

I also had to admit that Linn Minmay actually did have a rather nice singing voice, and her father's restaurant offered some rather nice chow. Who would have thought it, I got to see the first ever Chinese restaurant in space.

"Skull Three, pay attention. You nearly crashed into that ice asteroid." Speak of the devil here was Lisa Hayes, I could have chosen to ignore her like so many other times but I guess this and the way Claudia and Roy keep trying to get me to ask her out was just too much for me to put up with.

"Sorry to have lost that chance Lieutenant Commander Hayes, but don't dread. I might get lucky and grant you that secret wish to see me crash into one of these ice death traps." I turned off my communications only to have Claudia call my plane instead.

"I am sorry you have reached the life model of Rick Hunter, he is otherwise indisposed at the moment, please leave your message at the sound of the bell." Claudia didn't seem at all amused if the glare she was giving me was any indication.

"Look, little brother, my friend did nothing but to tell you something that was totally part of her duties, she didn't need you to tell her that. If I didn't know her better I would swallow that excuse, but I do know her better than that. She is worried about you, you insensitive jerk. And you wonder why did I dump you and start dating Roy instead."

I was not having this conversation right now, "Look, Claudia, it is no secret that she hates my guts. The last thing I need is someone distracting me. Like you are with this lecture, but you are practically family so that is different." She smiled as I finished saying that.

"Rick do you know how many pilots she actually warned about being careful, due to potentially causing their own death by being distracted," I told her there were at least thirty planes in this operation so my guess would be a dozen.

"That is where you are wrong, little brother. She only called one and you know who that one was. I think she actually is worried about you, even if you both are too stubborn to see it. I think she actually loves you, even if you both chose to ignore it."

I had enough of my big sis's attempts to be my matchmaker. "You do realize that she is probably listening to this entire conversation, and is not too happy about it. Why don't you spend those free thoughts thinking about something more pleasant, like will you have Chow-main or General Joe Chicken tonight."

I saw that main weapon fire twice and I have to say it is a sight that would either cause me a heart attack if I was an enemy and awe since I was not. The mission was a success and after I landed and got off my plane I was met with a glaring couple, it was Roy and Claudia. I guess I should have expected this, upset his lover and Roy was bound to be upset too.

"I wonder if those aliens are accepting human defectors. Cause whatever their Captain is doing to them must be nicer that the glares I am getting from both of you." That made them stop glaring at me if only because they started laughing.

"They wouldn't have the patience to withstand that smart mouth of yours. Now come on, we are waiting for you. Claudia said something about you buying dinner for us at that Chinese restaurant you and the guys in our squadron like so much."

As we walked in the place we decided to take our usual seats, Minmay was dressed in her usual red dress and she came over to take our order. "I will take a Miso ramen, Roy here will have his usual and Claudia will have the Sweet and Sour Chicken with rice. Tea for the lady, a cold glass of lemonade for me and my brother. And for the last time Roy we can't have any alcohol, we are still on duty."

"Thank you, Minmay. How are you and your folks settling on the fortress?" She smiled and told me her family was doing just fine and that she would be back in a few minutes with our order.

"So instead of flirting with Lisa you are with that waitress?" I once again glared at Claudia, "No, I am not. I happen to try and be polite. You do remember what we were taught about how to treat the people that make or handle the food you eat, don't you Roy? Or maybe I should ask for something to deal with the consequences of ignoring this advice."

Claudia just looked at him and then at me, "Alright, but I do still think you two would make a lovely couple. I mean you are both career military, you both are sticklers for following regulations and procedures, you both even like the same food for crying out loud. Name one reason why you can't ask her out on a date?"

I looked at her waiting for my food, "Because said woman hates my guts, and here is an extra reason. I think she would actually cheer if my plane blew up into space dust."

Roy had to laugh didn't he, he just had to laugh. "Look, little brother, the fact that she called you to tell you of a potential mistake that could cause your death, and only you means that she was actually worried about you. Let me translate for you when a girl worries that much about the safety of a single guy, it usually means she wants that guy to be safe, in other words, she either likes you or loves you."

"I am guarding a giant retrofitted alien warship, being pursued by a fleet of giant aliens, and you think I have enough time to think about romance? Look you want me to admit it, yes she is beautiful, a complete and utter knockout. Let me tell you that as long as she hates my guts, I don't think we will even be friends."

As our food was served I thanked Minmay and asked her to give me the check so that I could pay for our food and get everything squared away so that we could enjoy the delicious food. I gave her what I call a traditional tip and we began eating our food.

The ramen was good, not as good as the one from our mess hall, but good. I was drinking my pink lemonade and that is when I noticed Lisa sitting in a seat at the table that was right in front of ours. I somehow know she actually listened to what I said to Claudia.

As my brother and Claudia finished eating I got up and walked over to where Lisa was, I stood right in front of her as she got up from her seat. "I know you listened to what I said to Claudia, and I know I deserve it, go ahead and hit me."

She looked at me and then at Claudia, "What I said was disrespectful, and you probably felt insulted, we, however, need to work together to keep these people safe. I know you want to slap me, so go ahead. I deserve it."

She looked at me and then she began nodding her head at Claudia. "Ok, you are right about something, you definitely deserve something. So don't move and close your eyes." I closed my eyes and expected a hard slap, instead, I felt something tender and delicate press against my lips. I opened my eyes to see her walking away, rather fast.

"See little brother, our flight control officer doesn't seem to hate you as much as you think she does, after all, she just gave you what I call a traditional kiss a young lady gives her boyfriend, or should I say a good night kiss?"

I just stood there for a few seconds, I just couldn't believe it. I said those things, and I truly expected her to slap me, but instead she kissed me. Right in the middle of a busy restaurant no less. "I just hope this doesn't end up getting me a court martial. Why are you two grinning like the cat that just ate the canary?"

They both walked out of the restaurant and I had to wonder if Lisa being there at that time was something these two actually arranged. I guess I should decline any attempts they try to set up a blind date. I can pretty much guess who Claudia would set me up with.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

From that day at the restaurant, I really didn't have much time to think about my love life, Lisa or even this whole Miss Macross beauty pageant. I really didn't but that didn't stop the rest of my squadron from yapping my ear off about it. I lost count how many times did I had to remind them we had a fleet of giant homicidal aliens chasing after the fortress we pretty much have to call home.

As my patrols became more and more frequent, I could sleep less and be not eating regularly, which in turn made my sour mood even worse, downright bloodthirsty if you listened to the people that flew around me.

One of the battles and I saw something I didn't even think it was an accident, the blasted aliens shot at the fortress and blew off the radar control tower of the fortress, we were effectively blind. Now you may call me paranoid, but I didn't think that was accidental. What made matters worse is that I was given my own squadron a couple of days before this happened.

I had a pair of pilots fresh out of training and this happened. For some strange reason, Max seemed to be a very disciplined and capable pilot, but Ben was as distracted as he could be. The thing that I understood about Ben Dixon was his ambitious personality, he wanted to climb up the ranks and fast.

Just when I had flown a couple of patrols with these two and this happens. The second I was called to go to the office of Captain Gloval I knew something was going to happen and I also knew I was not going to like it. The Captain was not one to call you to his office for a social visit after all.

Especially since he was so busy these days dealing with the refugees and their constant problems. They had become quite accustomed to life on the space fortress as such there weren't as many problems with the refugees or the refugees having major problems with the defense force soldiers.

"Come on in Rick, I know that you are busy so I will keep this to the bare minimum." I walked in and sat down on the chair in front of his desk. "Rick I need you and your team to be on an escort mission to see our surroundings, as you might have known the last attack by the aliens damaged our radar tower."

I knew this since I was there when the large blast pretty much torched the radar tower. "So we are basically flying blind in the middle of the storm?" Captain Gloval smiled as he heard me say that and began to nod his head.

"I knew you would pick up on what I was trying to say, yes Rick and we are sending a recon plane to do a scan of the area surrounding the ship. Your squadron will keep the Catseye safe and this way we will know where we are going and how to plot our course towards Earth."

I didn't like this one bit, this was a nightmare of a nightmare. "I don't know, sir. This entire attack, the damage to our radar tower, and even the pause in their attacks just screams trap to me. I don't like it, it makes me get the feeling like the cat that is playing with the canary before he decides to eat the canary."

Captain Gloval looked at me and then he looked at the ceiling in his office. "You may be right Rick, and hearing you say that sets my mind at ease. I know that you are the right man to keep the recon plane safe. When is your squadron ready to launch?"

I stood at attention and looked at him, "Anytime you need us, sir. We will not fail you or the people of this ship!" Gloval stood up and walked around his desk, he then slapped me on my back.

"Exactly what I come to expect from you, be ready to launch at 0600 and be sure to try to get some sleep, this mission while critical I would rather have it be a success but without anyone in your squadron or the recon plane dying if that is all possible."

I was not looking forward to this mission, escort missions could go wrong in so many ways. Had the escort plane decide something on its own it was almost assured that it would be a disaster, but thank goodness this whole mission had a strictly regulated and established flight path.

I was just relaxing when I saw the primary reason for me to get uncomfortable with this mission. There she was Miss Lisa Hayes, the only thing that came to mind is one question over and over again, 'Why me? Why did it have to be me!'

I got on my plane and the next thing I knew one of a member of my squadron decided to contact me through inter-ship communications. "Say skipper why do you look like the world is coming to an end?" I guess I could always count on Ben Dixon to make me feel better with his friendly and funny way of looking at life.

"Have you seen who is going to be in that recon plane? How in the world are they allowing Lisa Hayes to take command of this mission? Doesn't she need to stay in her post to coordinate the many patrols that are flying beside our mission?"

I don't know what I have done to make fate be so angry with me, the second I said that she decided to answer my question, I didn't even know she was listening to our conversation in the first place.

"Because I am the single most qualified to get the most out of this plane's radar range, that is why I am leading this mission. Now Mr. Hunter, and Mr. Dixon I trust that you will keep your personal chatter to when we aren't about to launch to conduct such an important mission. I want all planes to restrict any communications to mission sensitive information."

I swear sometimes I think Roy had a hand in me ending up leading the escort of this mission. As we took off we took a standard escort formation around the recon plane. Everything was going just fine, we had mapped one-third of the area around the space fortress and I truly began to worry about the lack of action from the aliens.

The next part of the recon flight plan took us through a small asteroid belt. 'I don't like this one bit, one blast from their laser cannons and these asteroids could crush all of us into scrap. Why is the enemy so quiet? What are they up to?'

I guess I sort of jinxed myself because sure enough the asteroid belt was hit by several dozen laser cannon blasts. The pieces of the asteroid hit the recon plane till the dish section was ripped off and the plane lost all control. It floated in space like a fish out of the water.

That was when my squadron took position behind one of the large asteroid to see what the enemy was going to do. Sure enough, they took the recon plane and began moving towards one of their large cruisers. "Max, Ben, we are going to follow them, silent flight no unnecessary noise. As soon as we get the pilot and Ms. Hayes we will escape and return to the SDF-1."

Everything was going according to plan and I could not help but to feel uneasy as everything was going so well. "Commander Hayes stays clear, I will remove the canopy." My Veritech fighter was in battloid mode and easily used the hands to rip off the plane canopy off. I saw what was left of the pilot. The pilot died due to being hit by the debris of the asteroid that hit the recon plane. Had he been wearing his helmet like Ms. Hayes he would have lived.

"All right squadron we need to get out of here. Max launch missiles towards twelve o'clock to make an exit. Ben you and I will keep an eye on the enemy. I don't think they will just let us leave without a fight, they didn't go through all this trouble in capturing the recon plane to end up empty handed."

Just as Max was ready to blast his missiles a giant green-skinned man jumped down from the upper service path and he came down holding a large metal tube like a club. I jumped and began to buy Max sometimes. If I didn't know any better I would say this green alien had more experience in hand to hand combat than most people aboard the flying fortress.

"Max doesn't just stand there, this isn't an exhibition match at a tournament. Blast a hole in the ceiling already, I don't know how long I can hold this brute!" Sure enough, he shot his missiles and the opening was created, except I decided to use the chance to get rid of my unfriendly sparring partner.

I used my thrusters to fly far enough and hard enough to toss my opponent out of the whole Max created and I had a few seconds before the whole close itself off. I switched to Guardian configuration to check how Lisa was doing. I took her carefully out of the plane, and as soon as he was on the deck and looked like her footing was stable she looked at me.

"You can admire me all you want later, right now I need you three to stay in battloid mode and use your lasers to cut through that hatch over there." I couldn't help to hear my squadron laugh as they made comments about me getting weak knees when I was around Lisa.

We took turns using our lasers to burn through the hatch, or that was the plan. This was taking longer than I figured since we had to take turns to allow our weapons to cool down. It was also to watch out if more alien giants decided to rush in like the last one.

Out of the ceiling I heard someone shout and it was the green-skinned alien giant I sent into space, and he was jumping towards Max and Ben. I had only seconds to push them out of the way and I felt something massive crush my Veritech like it was made of paper. I could feel myself bleeding heavily, and just before everything went black I saw Lisa crying.

Next thing I knew I was floating in some strange liquid in my birthday suit. I looked around and I saw there were literally dozens of these liquid filled tubes around the room. I tried to move but something was preventing me from moving at all.

I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep, hoping to hear where I was and what these aliens planned to do with me. "How is the captive Exedore? I hope your idea works, if this micronian doesn't heal completely we would lose a chance for them to explain the situation to the Supreme Commander."

 _"Commander Breetai I must remind you it was your attack that put us into this situation. Lucky the analysis from our scanners have shown that they are almost if not ninety-nine percent compatible with our own genetic material. Should that not be the case we could have lost this captive, but as is we could use a blood transfusion and our healing pods to have him regenerate all the damage caused by your attack."_

I was not liking what I was hearing, they pretty much said that I had been mutilated by the giant's attack and not only did they heal me by placing me in this strange liquid filled tube, but also had to give me a blood transfusion using their own blood to do it. If that was not weird enough I could understand every word they were saying.

 _"Look Exedore, I will accept that I let my anger get the best of me. I was simply mad with rage after that_ micronian _and his machine squadron sent me into space. Having to basically climb in after climbing in space would make even you mad. The thing I worry is that as you know we Zentradi receive most of our education through genetic learning."_

 _"I worry that since you used my blood for the transfusion, this_ micronian _may learn a little too much about our species. I also don't appreciate the insinuation that this_ micronian _is basically now my son."_

I have to agree with my attacker on that last point, it didn't make feel like jumping for joy either to hear that I was being called his son. This made no sense they talk like they have a basic education when they are born. That would certainly cut time in training if any toddler was born with a high school education.

'Need to remain calm, don't want these giants to notice a change in my heartbeat.' I kept trying to think calm and soothing thoughts. Things that would make me happy and at peace. Things like seeing Roy and Claudia watching as their first child learned to walk or say their first word.

The disturbing thing is that I somehow quickly began seeing instead of Roy, I saw myself, and instead of Claudia I saw Lisa and we were playing with our first born. I found such image terrifying to such degree I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I heard several people rush to the side of the tube I was in and pound on a keyboard.

I slowly felt like I needed some sleep and I felt myself going to sleep. Next thing I knew I was in a holding cell. In the holding cell, was Max, Ben, and Lisa. "Gee, skipper don't scare us like that, that freaking giant alien beat your Veritech to pieces and I swear you were missing large chunks of your body."

Max looked at me, "The alien giants came in a rush and took you away, we really feared the worst, sir."


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

I looked at them and did the only thing I could do, I smiled and try to act like nothing was the matter. We were trapped in a ship chuck full of aliens that could crush each of us into a paste with one hand, no need to make the situation worse.

"No need to worry guys, they just took me to the medical bay and fixed me right up. Something about them wanting all of us alive, I am just guessing. It's not like they would tell a bunch of micronians why they needed to do this elaborate plan to capture a group of us. So since I went missing did I miss anything?"

Max looked a bit awkward and Ben was looking like he was jumping for joy as I said that, I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut in these situations. "Well skipper you didn't miss much, they strapped us all to tables and took videos of us, and I think they did some x-rays and maybe tested our blood. Which was taken by a robot."

"After that, we were placed in this I think it's a giant glass jar, at least we can breathe. Then we had Commander Hayes go through a massive panic attack, crying and screaming about your supposed death, honestly skipper, she looked like her whole world collapsed on itself and life lost all meaning."

For some reason Lisa was avoiding making eye contact, I guess I would too if someone talked like that about me. "Anyone have any idea how long we have been traveling during this fold?" Max looked at his watch and then at Ben's.

"About a day and a half, sir. Why would that matter?" It could only mean this ship was traveling an extreme distance, it made no sense for this ship to travel this far away from the SDF-1.

"Time slows down when we travel via space fold, Max. This means your watch may say it has been thirty-six hours, but by what you told me we traveled that entire time via a space fold. This means we could have been away from the SDF-1 for weeks if not months. Why would they need to travel this long of a distance it makes no sense."

Lisa looked at me and she just had this look of utter shock on her face, "Rick not to sound astonished, but you are correct about time slowing during a space fold. The thing is Rick this is a knowledge that was told to bridge personnel only, Rick. How in the world do you know how space fold affects time?"

I looked at the wall and tried to read the signs on the far side of the room. "I got no idea, Commander Hayes, all I know is that I just know. The other thing I know is that we are not in a prison cell, and this is the dry food storage compartment of this ship. It says so right over there, by the big don't ignite flammable substances stores here."

That is when Lisa really walked over to me and placed her hand on my forehead. "You must have hit your head somewhere, it almost sounds like you can read those weird looking letters on those signs on that wall."

I looked at the wall and sure they were as clear as day, "Not all are signs actually, that on the top center is a clock, the one next to it is a thermometer, and the one directly below is an integrity meter. You may call me insane, but I can read this like I can read English. Speaking of wish I wish they would at least let me access a terminal to be able to read a book or two. This waiting is kind of boring."

Lisa now flat out began to laugh her head off, as I told her the single best joke she had ever heard. "Do tell Rick, what would you like to read about? These giant aliens are completely unlike us, we don't even know if they appreciate any sort of art, let alone literature."

I again felt like something was odd for me, for some strange reason, I actually felt offended hearing her say that. "Lisa, I might be wrong but do you think a species could be this advanced without having an appreciation for literature or the arts? For the life of me, I can't think of anything on that subject which is why I wanted access to the terminal to find out."

"We need to learn as much as we can about them, their culture, beliefs, and even military ideology if we are to ever report our findings to Earth Central Command, or at least to Captain Gloval. You might want to pin that camera to your collar and make sure it is properly secured. That video might be the only proof we have that we aren't completely insane."

Lisa actually nodded her head as I looked at her and did as I asked, she secured the small video recorder to her suit and was sure it would not fall off. "I hate to say this Rick, but you are right. This is the first time we had an opportunity to learn anything about them. What is making me worry why the sudden knowledge of their written language and specific things like how time is affected during a space fold operation?"

I looked at her and for some strange reason she was seating right next to me, and for some equally strange reason I didn't mind it one bit, it almost made me feel calm and relaxed. "I don't know what they did to me in their medical treatment, maybe they learn things through the knowledge that is in bedded in their genetic structure, I maybe know this because they gave me a transfusion and this is a temporary unforeseen consequence."

She leaned closer to me and rested her head on my shoulders. I put my arm behind her neck and placed my hand on her shoulder. I don't know why I felt like doing that, it could be that I am still confused or that I deep down knew the serious situation we were in and felt like offering Lisa some comfort.

As the fold finally came to an end and I looked at what we could see right outside the window I knew we were in deep trouble. The minute I saw the massive fleet I felt a massive pain in my head, it felt like someone hit me with a mallet. As I looked at the fleet again I knew that this could not get any worse.

I dropped to my knees and I could not believe what I was seeing, now I remember what those two giants were saying in the medical bay. "You want to know how much in trouble we are? Look out the window. You are being given a look at the main Zentradi ship contingent. This means we are in Central Prime, the main military hub of the Zentradi high command."

"You might want to get this on the video Lisa, we might need to show this to Captain Gloval, that is if we survive our meeting with Supreme Commander Dolza. I don't get the feeling he is as kind, benevolent or has the patience Captain Gloval has. Don't ask me how I know this but I know."

I saw a Zentradi officer and I began to knock at the jar they had us in. This got the guy's attention. _"How long till we are taken to the Supreme Commander?"_ He looked at me like I had grown horns.

" _I am not kidding here, how long do I have till I end up meeting with Supreme Commander Dolza?"_ He looked at me as I glared at him, he came close to the jar they had us in. _"Thirty minutes, why are you asking me micronian, and how in the world can you talk my language at all?"_

I looked at the others and they seem to be either shocked or looked like I had done something weird. I looked back at the Zentradi officer. _"Look meeting with the Supreme Commander is not something to sneeze at. I certainly don't want to do it on an empty stomach. Can you get me a bluterio, or at least a pair of filetros?"_

He nodded his head and left telling me he would see what he could do. A few minutes later he did bring me a pair of filetros. I thanked him and he went away. I grabbed one and broke a piece of it and began eating it.

"What is the matter with you? Haven't you ever seen a couple of grapes before? Now if you will excuse me I intend to eat some of this, before we meet the Supreme Leader of the Zentradi forces. I would suggest you do the same, it could very well be our last meal."

Lisa looked at the weird grape and with some fear I saw her take a piece of it and begin eating it. "Skipper what were those strange noises you made and why did the giant make the same noises at you."

I looked at him as I grabbed another piece of the grape. "Ben I just asked how long till our meeting, it's in half an hour. Knowing that and since we had time I asked him for something we could eat and would fit in this jar."

"I asked for a small peach, but I guess the only thing the guy could find that would fit here without crushing us was two grapes. I will tell you these are some tasty grapes, I should really thank the guy if I see him again."

Lisa still was looking at her portion of grape and looked at me, "How do you know this thing is not poisonous? That giant could very well try to kill us." I couldn't help but laugh as Lisa said that.

"I will give you several reasons, first if they really wanted us dead, they could simply vent the contains of this jar into space. Second they could have blasted the ships instead of capturing us, and lastly, I been eating it and I am alive, so is Max and Ben."

We had each our fill of food and indeed the officer came to take what was left. He looked at me and I did thank him for the information and the meal. He left me but not before telling me that I was welcome.

With some food in my stomach, I felt a lot more relaxed. I looked at Lisa and she still looked like she expected a weird monster to come straight out of her gut.

"Honestly Lisa, we have bigger problems than worry about the toxicity of a pair of grapes. We are going to meet the supreme leader of the very giant aliens we been fighting against. It makes no sense for you to worry about what we just ate, it would be better to think of a way to escape from this place."

Max looked at me and so did Ben, I could see them nodding their heads in agreement. Lisa just looked at me and at the sport where the grapes had been. "What we need is information, intelligence data we can use to better defend our planet and ourselves against these giant aliens."

I could argue with her till my hair fell out and I was as wrinkly as a prune, and that would achieve nothing in the end. I hoped that by being able to answer all the questions the Supreme Commander had I could avert a potential disaster, to stop what could be misunderstood and cause Dolza to give the order to have the entire human species wiped off the face of existence.

Everything told me that if this man felt that we were a clear and present danger to the survival of the Zentradi Species he would do everything in his power to eliminate that threat to the fullest of his ability. This man has been a warrior most of his life, and he was no stranger to violence. I don't know why, but I knew that Supreme Commander Dolza was not someone to mess with.

Unless of course you were feeling absolutely insane and had a death wish, then it would make perfect sense, but if you were sane you don't mess with this man.

As time got closer and I noticed it on the clock, I tried to stay as calm and collected as possible, which was no easy feat with Lisa pacing around like a buzzard flying over a carcass. The minutes felt like hours, the tension was so easy to feel that I could practically taste it.

The time finally came and we were taken to a conference room. I saw the two men who I saw before in the medical bay. At least Exedore was happy for some reason I didn't know to see me, as we were taken out of the jar he waved his hand merely at me.

I couldn't help but to think, 'Why is this guy so happy to see me?' Supreme Commander Dolza was seated on the tall seat right in front of the place they actually placed us. For a second I felt like I was a dog at a dog show.

"I am Supreme Commander Dolza, Supreme Leader of the Zentradi Forces. You micronians have been brought before me to answer my questions. I would highly advise you to head my warning, you will answer my questions truthfully or suffer the consequences."

I don't know why or how I knew how to do this, but I stood up and felt the need to do a gesture with my arm and bow to this man. I don't know why I did it, only that I had to do it.

This made the three men stare at me, and Exedore and Breetai were smiling at me as I did it.

"Ask your questions Excellency, I will answer as truthfully as I can."

Dolza looked at me and nodded his head. "Very well I would like to first know why did your people attack our scout flotilla?"

I looked at him and I knew what I could tell him, "Sir, the ship my race had salvaged reacted to your scout ships even before they reached our planet. The ship itself activated it's the main weapon as if it was set in reflex mode. The micronians on that planet had no idea or even imagined the ship would fire like it did. Please believe me Excellency, the micronians on that planet did not initiate an attack."

"Once your pods landed they felt like you and the Zentradi forces had invaded their world. So in response to what they perceived as an invasion, they reacted in self-defense. Even our current actions against your people have been because those within the battle fortress believe you and your kind to desire nothing but our extinction."

Supreme Commander Dolza put his hand on his chin and began to look to me like he was thinking about what I had told him. "I see, so this entire incident has been due to a misunderstanding of sorts. I will take this into consideration, and must commend you in your salute you performed. I see that micronians are indeed honorable to respect me thus."

"Now my next question, what do you know of protoculture?" I was ready to answer that question when Lisa told me to sit down. "I am Lisa Hayes I am in charge of the mission that brought us here, and therefore I am that man's commanding officer. I refused to answer any more of your questions till you answer some of ours first!"


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

Just hearing Lisa speak to Supreme Commander Dolza I wonder if anyone would if at some time in the future someone asked who cause the extinction of the human race, and all I could think off was a person showing a picture of Lisa Hayes standing as smugly as she did when she said that.

"How dare you demand to ask us questions, like we are equals!" Dozla pushed a button on the desk and an image of a planet was projected, "I think you don't realize who you are dealing with, a small demonstration is in other so that you understand the danger of your attitude."

I heard him give an order I never wished I heard, he ordered the entire fleets assembled in the base to fire at the planet we were looking at. The bombardment lasted a few minutes, but the effects were shocking enough that Max, Ben, and Lisa were shocked speechless. I was not as shocked because I knew this was a small display.

If Dolza really wanted to he could have had that planet reduces to powder no bigger than a sesame seed. I don't know why I know this, I just know it. Dolza was not one to mess around with and he was not one to be treated with the disrespect Lisa showed him. There was a reason why the Zentradi called him Excellency, a reason Lisa obviously had no clue about.

"Now that you know we could have destroyed your fortress, your planet, and even your species, I hope that from now on you do well to be more respectful. Now answer me this, where do you people come from? How do you come into being? Are you born through Protoculture?"

I hoped that Lisa for once listened to his advice, but I guess I was wrong from the way she was looking at him. "I will not answer a thing until you tell us what you know of protoculture."

That was enough for Dolza he picked her up with one hand and began to slowly try and crush her. "You will tell me what I want to know or I will crush you to a fine paste!"

Lisa was in pain and before I knew why I did it, I stepped closer to him. "Excellency micronians are born from their mothers. The go through sexual reproduction. Meaning when the man and woman's genetic material join inside the woman a child is conceived."

Breetai looked like he was feeling sick as I told them that, "You mean to tell me that all micronians came from females such as the one the Supreme Commander is holding. Why? How?"

Ben stepped closer to me and looked like they didn't understand something so basic, "When a man and a woman love each other, a child is born from that love, as a product of the father and the mother becoming one."

I had no idea that Ben was that much of a romantic sort of a guy, I guess his often humorous and lively way of behaving hide a much more sentimental side.

"Then demonstrate this love, you kiss that man over there and show us!"

I was looking at Ben and he was looking at me, I know I came to consider Ben and Max my good friends, but I simply don't swing that way. I looked at Lisa and she looked at me, I swear I could see her look like she was about to do something she was going to regret.

"I will demonstrate it, it is the only way you will get to see what you want to see."

Dolza looked at her and then at me and my friends. "Very well, let us see this thing called love. Don't lie to me or I will crush you and the others!"

She was slowly placed back on the table and I walked over to her to see if she was alright, "Are you ready?" Dolza nodded his head telling us that he was. "Rick Hunter be a man and kiss me!"

I looked at her, "Hey, I am not the only one that can do that, you can ask Ben to kiss you if you are going to be like that."

I saw her look at Ben and then at me, she looked like she tried to soften up a little bit, "I am trying to get their reaction to the kiss on my camera, and since you brought the subject up, I rather kiss you than him. Don't make me beg, kiss me!"

I took hold of her and pulled her closer to me, as I felt my arms around her waist, and I got closer to her, I saw how beautiful and sweet she looked up close. I don't know why these hormones are the way they are, or why they made me do what I did, but as soon as we were close enough I kissed her lips.

Our kiss became hotter, and more passionate by the second, what should be a light kiss on her lips, soon became much more as our tongues explored each other's mouths and we tasted each other's saliva. I felt her kiss equally with the same passion as I kissed her, and deep down the only reason the kiss ended was that I had a need for air.

Breetai, Exedore, and Dolza had a look on their faces like they had seen the single most disgusting thing they ever seen in their entire lives. Dolza was so panicked and disgusted that he immediately called for a guard. I heard him basically scream at the guard to take us away, far away from him. It was almost like we were carrying a horrible illness he was desperate to avoid.

We were placed inside a cell at least it wasn't a jar anymore. At least that is what I expected. It turns out they placed Max, Ben and Lisa in the cell while they took me somewhere else. I looked at the guard and I guess I was not that happy to be separated like this from my friends and especially Lisa since I for some unknown reason kept thinking about that kiss.

" _Soldier, I demand to know where are you taking me! Supreme Commander Dolza specifically ordered that we are placed in a cell. I hope for your own good this better be good, or so help me I will report this to his Excellency and he is not known to take insubordination lightly!"_

This made the giant man put me close to his face so I could look at his eyes, _"Sorry, sir. Commander Breetai and Exedore ordered me that I should bring you to them. It seems they have something the two officers need to discuss with you. Since it is a family matter his Excellency did allow it."_

I looked at him and for some odd reason, I knew he was not lying. _"This better be brief, I don't like to leave my commanding officer or my subordinates in a situation I don't know what is happening."_

He actually laughed as I said that and told me not to worry, his Excellency also said that the micronians were not to be harmed, at least until they adequately answered his questions. To me thinking how Lisa was that translate to till cows can learn to do gymnastics, and pigs begin to do aerial circus acts by flying in formation.

The room had a single table and Breetai and Exedore were both drinking a strange purple liquid, which for again some odd reason seemed to be rather appetizing to me. Breetai told the soldier to place me on the table and leave us alone.

As I stood there looking at them both, Exedore was the one to first offer me a cup of what they were drinking, _"No need to worry, it is simple tea, to settle our stomachs after your little display with the micronian female. The reason I needed to speak with you and the reason Commander Breetai wanted to be here is because I need to explain a few things to you."_

I took a sip from what I think was a toy cup from a children's toy set. _"As you may have noticed you can both understand our native language and speak our native language. I am sorry to inform you that in order to save you from your injuries, you received a blood transfusion from Commander Breetai."_

" _The transfusion had the unexpected consequence that it has apparently given you as much as we can tell, a rudimentary Zentradi education. The thing that caught us by surprise was the salute you did for our supreme leader. It was an officer's salute, something you should not know."_

Breetai pretended to cough, even I knew that he was pretty much telling Exedore to get to the point. _"As a result of you now carrying his blood, and more specifically his genetic material. There are two things that have changed for you, at least in regards within Breetai's fleet. The first is that you are regarded as a micronized zentradi, not a micronian like those people you were with."_

" _His excellency was very pleased with your respectful display and tone when speaking with him as well. The other thing is that technically you are now a relative of Commander Breetai, specifically you are now considered his only son."_

That was when some of the tea went down the wrong way and I nearly choked. _"Excuse me, let me see if I understand this correctly. The man who captured my friends, nearly murders me, and changes the very structure of my genetic code, is now my father? And I am his only son? Why is it that I feel like I am not the only one that found this situation a little shocking. To say the very least."_

Breetai was looking at me and as she finished his cup he was smiling at me, I had no clue why he was smiling like that, but if this situation was like anything I saw in a soap opera that Claudia used to make me and Roy watch, I would soon find out.

" _I was not happy to find that I was the only one that could give you a transfusion. Must I remind you that you tried to murder me too? How do you think I feel that my would-be killer is now my son. I guess this means we are more father and son than I ever expected. I am also here to tell you, Commander Dolza is not happy how that micronian female refuses to answer his questions, I need to ask you the same question. Don't worry I will tell no one of your answers."_

I looked at him and then at Exedore, _"I am the leader of a flight squadron, but as far as I can tell and the way our ship has had some unforeseen mishaps. I can deduce with certainty that the people of the space fortress you and the others are chasing know absolutely, positively next to nothing about the subject of protoculture."_

" _They merely finished salvaging the ship when the ship activated and attacked your scouts. Now they are continuing to attack as a form of self-defense, and that pretty much means that we are next to useless to his excellency."_

Breetai began to rub his chin with his hand and looked at me, _"That poses a problem, if his excellency were to find out you know next to nothing about the very subject he suspects you and your micronian friends to know, he will either have you tortured, and when he finds that you know nothing or more than likely less than he expects, he will kill you all. This is not a good situation."_

" _I will not have my only son die here! It would be a dishonor to my family and to my son's honor as a warrior. Listen, I will have one of your ships close to your cell, all you need to do is to use the drainage system, which I am sure you know of the layout, and enter the next room. You three can attempt to make your escape from there."_

" _I may not be your biological father, but I will treat you as if you I was. Also, try to use that display you did if accessing the drainage pipes in the cell is not possible. I am certain that you will succeed, you are my son after all."_


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

As I was returned to the others Lisa was the first to come over and out of nowhere gave me a big hug, and she broke down in tears. Telling me not to worry her like that again, wait a minute, here I thought she hated my guts, now she does this?

"It will be alright Lisa, they just wanted to discuss a few things with me. Some medical and some not so medical but still important. It seems that since they had to give me a transfusion, it sort of did a thing to me and they felt like I should know about it."

She looks at my face, my head, my neck. I swear if I didn't tell I was fine she was ready to take my clothes off to check. "Turns out they don't teach their young anything, I am even wondering if they even have kids. The guy who gave his blood for the transfusion was the one we fought."

"Suffice to say that guy in their culture, or should I say our culture. This is darn confusing, anyways that guy in the eyes of our giant alien captors is now my father. Their people call themselves Zentradi by the way, and he sort of gave me an idea how to escape. It's just that you guys might not like it."

Max looked at me and simply told me any plan I approve was good enough for him, Ben, on the other hand, wanted to hear my plan or should I say Breetai's plan. "Well, there is a drainage pipe that will take us directly into the room adjacent to this one. If everything goes according to plan they will be able to move one of our Veritech fighters there."

Ben asked why wouldn't they have all three of them, I told them I suspect they took one apart to figure our technology and the one I was piloting was crushed beyond repair. "So the alien species is called the Zentradi and the man who thinks of you as his son wants to help us escape, I have a question that bothers me, a why that keeps nagging me in the back of my mind."

I sat down on the floor and looked at them, "Because he believes their supreme commander, which our commanding officer insulted, by the way, would not take no for an answer to us sharing what we know of protoculture. I think I can safely say we know next to nothing, but Supreme Commander Dolza is not one to take that on face value. He is liable to try and torture us to get the answers that he wants."

"Thus my supposed father wants us to escape to keep me from dying. He sends you his warmest regards, by the way, Lisa." She looked at me like I had gone insane. The others actually found it a rather touching thing for a supposed father to do for his son.

They began to look for the drain that I mentioned and sure enough, it was there, the only problem is that Lisa flat out refused to go down the drain no matter what. I heard of people being obsessed with being clean but this was something we needed to do to survive.

"Look, Rick, I am sort of grateful that we got a way to escape and all, but I will not go down that drain! I don't even want to think about all the disgusting bacteria, virus, and other gunk these giants have in their drainage system."

I was about to tell her it was our only way to get out of here and go back to the fortress. We needed to take the video from her camera to Captain Gloval. Avoiding an interplanetary war was something we must definitely do, even if it means crawling a few hundred yards through some foul smelling stuff.

"Look, sir, she is not going to go and the more time we spend trying to convince her the more chances are that the enemy will find our way out. I will crawl through this and try my best to find a way to get all of you."

Max just jumped down the drain and I looked at Ben as he was smiling and looking at me. "Aren't you going to follow Ben?" He flat out said that he was staying behind in case Max took too long or was eaten by a giant rat. I know for a fact that there aren't any rats, bugs, or cockroaches on the base or any of the ships.

As we wait I came to a realization of sorts, Max was taking his time getting us out of this cell, as much I know it will be painful I guess we would need to use the other option. I just know Lisa will not take kindly to the very idea of it, much less what we would have to do.

"Well, I didn't say this because I know at least one person in this cell would hate this alternative plan. The idea is when the guards come and do their routine check of our cell, me and Lisa do something that will cause a reaction in the guard and allow us enough time to run towards the other room."

Lisa was glaring daggers at me, "Do something you say, pray tell what exactly are we going to do in front of the guard that will shock him enough that we can escape?"

I tried to mumble the answer, she flat out demanded that I say it out loud. "We will have to kiss. You saw the reaction the people in the meeting had when we did that."

I looked at her blushing face, and she immediately tries to hide it by looked away from me. "I know some people consider me gullible, but even I will not fall for that. You are just looking for any excuse you can use to kiss me again."

Ben looked at her and then at me and began laughing, "You know my lips are available if it means anything." We apparently both had the same feeling about the subject as we glared at Ben at the same time.

We heard the door being opened, "Alright Ben you guard the door, the moment the guard is distracted give the signal. And Lisa to make this convincing I need you to step closer to me."

As the door opened I saw her face and I leaned closer to kiss her. I was expecting a simple kiss on her lips, but she once again wanted more it seems, as once again we were french kissing.

The kiss ended a little too soon for my liking as Ben screamed that it worked. As we started to run the guard put his hand to stop us. "Guys, it's me! You got no idea who tough it was to find a guard, knock him out, undress him and put on his uniform. It's a miracle that my Veritech actually fits."

As he decided to pick us up he stopped Ben from climbing with us, "Not so fast big guy, these two go into the right pocket, don't want to disturb the love birds now do we?"

Lisa and I began to explain that this was only a tactic to escape, darn that Max thinking that I and Lisa were making out when he just happened to open the door. At least he promised to keep quiet about this, not that there was anything to talk about.

I kept looking around as we took off in the direction of one of the corridors. I guess Exedore was not kidding, cause I could read the signs like I knew this language all my life. "Alright Max, take a left on the next corridor and then two levels down. That should take us straight to the hangar."

As we went through the corridor we met several soldiers, they were suspicious at all, until Max decided to salute one that to him appeared to be an officer. If I was near him I would kick him, first the guy was not an officer and second you don't salute an officer like that, didn't he see me salute the Supreme Commander?

Our cover was completely blown by his single mistake and the soldier did what he would do to escaping prisoners. He grabbed the nearest alarm signal and began firing at us. Max took off as fast as he could switching to Guardian configuration. I tried my best to guide him, but I couldn't blame the guy for being a little frantic.

As we reached the elevator, Ben jumped out of the pocket he was in and walked on the arm of the Veritech. He pushed the level up, I swear I told him we needed to go down not up. As the weapon fire got closer and hit the Veritech we ended up flying right the main display in the command center.

If the situation was not as grim I think Breetai would find this a very funny practical joke, but it was grim and I kept yelling at my subordinates that we didn't have the luxury of as I called it taking the grand tour of the place, we needed to get out of here. I told him point blank the directions to take, and sure enough, we ended up meeting a few more enemy soldier.

The Veritech had so many holes that it could be used as a pasta strainer. It could if the thing was not emitting so much smoke which told me that something was wrong. "Sir, my plane's reactor is going critical we need to get away from it before it goes off."

One stinking floor, that is all we managed to get away. As we climbed off the plane and the door opened I saw several of the enemy points a their weapons at us. I simply couldn't let these guys get blasted by the Veritech, I don't know why I even care. I decided to I had to do something, _**"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"**_

That got the message through loud and clear as they too began to run away from the elevator as fast as they could. I managed to follow Lisa and Ben must be following Max. We ran from one corridor after another, Lisa didn't even give me time to look at the signs. As we finally came to as she called it a dead end. I knew where we went by looking at the contents of the room.

We ran into a weapons locker room, great all the weapons we could ever need and we couldn't use any of them.

"Why did you shout that strange series of noises as we left the elevator?" Lisa finally managed to catch her breath and this is the first thing she asked me. I will never stop being surprised by her it seems.

I had to come up with a convincing lie on the spot, "I had to since the explosion could trigger a chain reaction with their weapons and that could cause all of us to die." There was no way I would ever let Lisa know that I actually felt sorry for the poor unfortunate idiots.

"Couldn't you have used the fact that your are their Commander's son to our benefit somehow?" And once again Lisa said something that caught me by surprise. Did she know any ethics? To use the rank of your supposed parent for your benefit was beyond unethical, it was practically scandalous to even consider it.

"Aside from the fact we were escaping a prison cell and the fact that we caused damage to his cruiser the fact that his commander is my supposed father would have no relevance in this situation whatsoever. If he didn't shoot me, they would expect my supposed father to do it."

"There entire species are born, bred, and raised as soldiers they don't know any other life." As we were talking some idiot had to come and get a replacement rifle. He tried to grab his weapon but instead found us instead. I grabbed Lisa's hand and took off running. The idiot did just as I expect and began firing at us.

He missed by the holes on the deck were big enough to make both of us fall down. As we hit what I would assume was water, I tried to keep Lisa from drowning, except she was so frantic that he did hit me a couple of times, and everything went black.

As I began to wake up I realized that my head was something that was very soft, and very comfortable. Lisa cleared her throat, "If you are conscious could you sit up so we can figure where we are or do you enjoy using my lap as a pillow that much?" I had my head resting on her lap? I suddenly felt embarrassed.

I sat up and was struck speechless as I looked at her, the way the water streamed down her skin, the way her hair was, the way she was sitting and the fact that she cared enough about me enough to place my head on her lap rather than lay me down on the cold hard deck made me feel very surprised.

"Is there something on my face? Don't you dare laugh Rick! I am serious." I looked at her and indeed I realized that the same person who often gave me no end of trouble with her orders for my squadron was also this kind and caring woman that was with me.

"I was just thinking that if you actually let your hair down you actually look very beautiful. Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. Now let's see, we appear to be in the cruisers cooling system by the looks of it. Had there not been a leak we would have fallen to our death it seems."

Lisa began to nod her head, "Indeed, the only thing is I don't understand why would they let things go into this level of disrepair. They have knowledge how to use their advanced weapons and technology but this shows they have no idea how to do repairs. Why would this be the case?"

I felt a headache and I somehow knew the answer, "I told you before Lisa the Zentradi are raised to be soldiers from birth, they have no maintenance personnel, the ship provides most meals. Even the doctor and the people in charge of supply and resupply the ships are in fact soldiers."

Lisa began to look at me and she nodded her head, "So they have this advanced technology and they simply know how to use it, but not how to repair or maintain it. Tell me, Rick, how did you know this was the cooling system? How did you know how their species raise their young?"

I looked at Lisa and smiled, "I told you, Lisa, that blood transfusion did things to me. I know their language, their social customs, everything I would know if I was born as a Zentradi. See that sign up there, it clearly says cooling system valve number three. Now let me think about this, if we are here then we just climb this into that pipe, that should take us into the fire sprinkler system on the wall of the battle pod hangar."

She just had to ask me how many sprinklers did that hangar have and before I could stop myself I told her twenty-six, thirteen in the ceiling and the rest of the hangar walls. "I just hope that we don't end up coming up into a sewage pipe," I told her that we were in the cooling system which means that the sewage treatment and water recycling was done in a separate system for health concerns.

"So why didn't you use the fact that your father is a high ranking officer in their fleet to our favor? I don't want excuses Rick, I want an answer I can understand." I kept climbing up to the pipe and when I reached it I helped her climb into the pipe.

"What you better hope is that the hangar doesn't have a fire or we are going to be pushed down this pipe into the hangar and we could actually drown. It is immoral and unethical for a child to use the rank of their parent as a means to get preferential treatment. Breetai considers me his son, and thus it would be unethical and a complete violation of Zentradi Military Code to use that relationship to try and gain any preferential treatment. Yet another thing that transfusion gave me it seems."

As we walked along the inside of that pipe she began to ask me a few more things. "So Rick why is it that we have not seen any female soldiers in this cruiser?" I told her Zentradi had long ago done away with sexual reproduction as it would cause a soldier to be incapacitated for nearly a year.

"They mainly create test tube babies I think is the closest term to our own culture has, artificial wombs raise the child into adulthood, all knowledge is in genetic, and that which isn't they learn as they do their assigned position in the fleet. Males and Female Zentradi live and work in separate ships, it is very rare to see a Female soldier in a Male operated Cruiser and vice versa."


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

Well climbing up and getting into the tube was a hassle, it sure didn't help that she made me climb first, honestly she is not wearing a dress, and I would never disrespect her like that, I, of course, understand if she actually felt insulted if I simply for some reason can't get enough of seeing how her suit clings to her body like that.

I am a healthy young man, with an absolute beauty near me, honestly, I was more confused than I ever been in my life, one the one side I wanted to grab her and kiss her, and on the other, my conscious was screaming at me that such thoughts were immoral and unbecoming.

I had to do something to keep my mind off the beauty that was a few feet behind me, the only thing that came to mind was an old Zentradi song, so that is exactly what I began singing in a low volume, once we made it to the hangar I saw that we didn't have that much of a climb down.

"We are trying to escape and you decided to make weird grunting noises, do you want them to notice us and make ruin our chance at an escape?" I was not about to tell her that the song I was singing was considered to be a very romantic melody or at least that what I seem to remember, it was an old song.

As we got near one of the battle pods, I began to try and find a display that had a navigation information. I saw Max and Ben trying to get into a battle pod and I could not help but laugh at their attempt, Ben was trying climb up by using Max as a ladder.

I walked near them and looked at them both, "Max you should be the one trying to get Ben to help you up instead of the other way around. Honestly, people, can't leave you two alone for a second before you try to get in some sort of trouble. That is the exhaust port that you are trying to climb into."

I moved aside and looked at a place and with some effort, we managed to get the manual release to the cockpit. As we climbed on I went straight for one of the consoles and began touching it."

"Rick does your mind not hitting that touch display at random, you might end up causing this thing to self-destruct." I felt insulted by her remark. I was sorry tempted to tell her the button for the self-destruct was the one she was sitting on, and it was.

"I am actually trying to get our current position if we aren't close enough to the Fortress, it would not matter if we could escape. This battle pod simply does not have any way for long range travel. This thing would be little more than a coffin for us if we left too far away from our forces."

I kept looking and sure enough, the display told me as clear as day. We were currently in a system that was not even in our neighboring to our own solar system. In other words, we had been transported for quite some time.

"This shows we are no less than fifty light years from our own solar system, which means this battle pod is in one of the cruisers that are on standby. If we try to escape at this precise moment, the turret control officers will detect us and will blast this battle pod as a mere punishment for taking one of them for a joyride, and to enforce the military code. We have only one chance, and that is if this battle pod is taken back to our own solar system."

This made me realize that the questions Supreme Commander Dolza was asking and I had a good feeling since I saw the symbol at the top of the cockpit. "Chances are this pod will be taken to our solar system within the hour, If their Supreme Commander believes our fortress is indeed the one that holds the secret to protoculture, they will most certainly try and attack again."

Lisa looked at me and moved to where I was, "You said the transfusion caused you to gain some of their knowledge, do you know what they mean by protoculture?" I would love to tell her I did, but the fact is I have only the knowledge concerning what the Zentradi know, in other words only military knowledge.

"Zentradi believes it to be a way to randomize their genetic structure during the cloning process, this would be used to correct inherit defects in repeated cloning. It is sort of the way if you make a copy of a copy, the more copies are made the less clear it is compared to the original document. The same thing is happening to their people, in other words, they need this protoculture in order to save their species."

I took a deep breath, "I guess I should say our species since at least two men think of me as a Zentradi, we need to wait our time. We act too rashly and we will never make back to Macross, and the information we obtained will be of no use."

Lisa looked at me and she began to nod her head, "Yes, the video from my camera. I must deliver this data to Macross, and High Command, they must know that their estimations are wrong or it could cause an incident that would be the end of all life on Earth. So tell me Rick is there any way to know when they will begin to mobilize?"

I pointed at the terminal where Ben was leaning against, "That is a fleet communication device, much like our own communication link we have on our Valkyries. If you push the button near where Ben in learning it would turn the communication channel on, the dial to the left of it controls the volume and the one on the right the frequency."

"If you turn down the volume and turn it on we should be able to listen to their transmissions without drawing too much attention." That is when two men had to work together while Lisa and I argued that the frequency was right, which by the way it was. I don't understand why Lisa didn't understand something even a new born knew about, oh wait, that's right, I forget, she doesn't have the knowledge I got due to that transfusion.

Finally, we got it turned the communication link on, and what do I hear from the people around me, complaining, a lot of complaining. The compared the quality of the people talking something akin to as a pack of cats using their own tails as music instruments and banging each other on their heads with hammers.

Personally, for some odd reason, I found such comments to be both hurtful and very disrespectful of a rather nice sounding guy giving instructions that Commander Breetai was about to fold his fleet to recapture the space fortress. I waited for them to finish their complaining, might as well let them air out all their negative feelings.

As soon as the place was quiet and I got done thanking god for making these cockpits soundproof. I looked at them, "Done complaining? The sounds you hate said that this battle pod and several thousand others were being moved to Breetai's fleet to replace the ones we actually destroyed."

"Several hundred clones will also be transferred and by the sound of things we are already on one of the ships in this particular fleet. Max, Ben and you Lisa were arguing so much that you didn't notice them moving this battle pod."

They sort of looked at each other and became really quiet for a few minutes, I decided to let them know what exactly they complained about the song. I myself felt that it was a kind of touching and very tender song, but then again I actually understood the lyrics.

"The last part of Ben here turned off the transmission was a song, a song that was being played for those that actually remember losing friends and family during this entire ordeal. The good things about living among brothers while traveling in a sea of stars. Guess you felt that it was hate filled talk about Macross, sorry it was a memorial song for all those that have died."

They all looked at me as I tried to wipe the tears from my face with my right hand. Lisa was surprised at seeing this if the way she looked at me was any indication. "Sorry Rick, we didn't know. I guess that transfusion left you with a lot more than knowledge of their language."

I sort of understood what Max was saying. I looked at the controls and knew what each lever, button, and control did, even though I never piloted one of these things. In fact, this was the first time ever that I saw the inside of one of these battle pods in person.

It did make me feel a bit strange since everything from my memories in my mind was a lot smaller, and is the size I was it was if anything hard for me to picture how we were going to even manage to push the controls hard enough to pilot this thing.

As we looked at each other I felt the sudden kick of the fleet coming out of the jump. That is when I felt like someone was trying to board the battle pod we were in. That would spell disaster in various ways. I quickly told Ben and Max to push the buttons so that the outer speakers could be turned on.

" _This battle pod is occupied, I highly suggest you find another. I don't think Commander Breetai would appreciate a delay in deployment now would he?"_

I heard the man outside laugh and say that he agreed with me, Commander Breetai would most certainly not be pleased with a delay in deployment and even wished me good luck in the coming battle. We exchange a typical fight well for the fleet farewell and that is when Max and Ben looked at me trying very hard not to laugh.

"You just sounded like they did? What exactly did you tell that person Rick?"

I looked at her and I was sorely tempted to tell her that I was planning to tell him that I was spending time making out with a lovely young woman, but that would not make any sense since the female Zentradi and male Zentradi never served in ships together.

"I told him this battle pod is occupied and that he needed to find another one. Or do you want to explain how three micronians are doing inside here when in reality we should be in a holding cell awaiting interrogation and quite possibly execution?"

Ben began laughing and I began to shake my head at how funny he found our current situation. "Well, in that case, it's a good thing you know how to talk like they do. You just saved our lives there skipper. Now how do we pilot this thing out of here?"

I began to look at my surroundings. "Alright here is what we are going to do. The first thing we are going to set the frequency to contact Macross, then we are going to take positions. Me and Commander Hayes here are going to control the controls you control the pitch Lisa, I will control the other control. Max and Ben see the pedals down there? They are the same as the engine controls of our planes."

I looked at them and could not help but smile as Ben and Max understood what I was telling them. "Now we got a little time, may fortune and good tidings find us in our struggle." I decided to change the frequency since I knew how to do it. As I floated to my side of the controls I saw Lisa smiling, I swear she has been doing that more and more.

"What was that thing about fortune and good tidings Rick?" I looked at her, she must be nervous to ask me such a thing. I looked at how her hand was trembling, I guess she also a little bit afraid we might get blasted by the Macross pilots too.

"It was a traditional Zentradi farewell, it is often said for situations like this. I honestly don't know what I am anymore Lisa, am I human with knowledge of the Zentradi culture or am I a Zentradi that had been made the size of a micronian with weird knowledge on micronian language and culture?"

She must have sensed the distress in my voice since she jumped off her controls and came to wrap her arms around me. I could feel her body press against my back as he put her arms around my waist or at least try to do so.

"You are Rick Hunter, the man who is doing his best to make our mission a success, keep his subordinates and fellow officer safe, and the man who I love." I must admit I was not expecting her to say that at all. I turned around to try and see her face, I was expecting her to have a teasing if not sarcastic look on her face, but certainly not her blushing like she was.

The next thing I know she is kissing me on my lips, and the kiss got hotter and hotter, and I somehow trying to say something ended up kissing her too. What is wrong with me? The feel of her soft lips, the taste of her as her tongue meets with mine, the softness of her as she and I hold each other.

Max began to clear his throat and I got to say I felt a bit of conflicting feelings about it. First I wouldn't mind if that kiss went on a little longer, and second I didn't like his interruption of something that as far as I understood it would not happen ever again.

"Commander as much as Ben and I enjoy this obvious public display of affection, I think we should man the controls since it sounds like they are about ready to launch us into space. It does sound like when preparations to launch are getting underway."

That made Lisa realize that it indeed sounded like that, she looked at me and smiled, "We will have to continue our discussion of this later, you ain't getting off that easy buster." She immediately jumped away from me towards her control rather quickly. I didn't even have a chance to reply to what she just said to me.

The pod was launched and we saw as many of our own people fought against them, we had managed to program a message into the communication console that repeated the same thing, don't kill us, we are friends. We had a bit of a hard time making it sound sincere, but as it was not having the desired effect or more than likely Ben and Max were bored they switched frequencies.

Next thing I know I am listening to Lynn Minmay sing a song that would have made any pilot blush, it was entitled my boyfriend is a pilot. Lisa was glaring daggers at me, how in the world is this my fault? She could be talking about any pilot for all we know, alright, I know she is talking about me, but I don't even think of her that way.

Next thing we know the Veritech planes around us grab our battle pod and bring it back to our ship. The moment they realize that we are being taken back into what most would call friendly territory, Ben, Max, and Lisa began to get really excited and screaming that they were going home.

Here I was thinking that it might be my home, but I was also secretly hoping that I don't end up on an autopsy table. I somehow don't think they will be happy when they hear that the man in charge of attacking them is my now adoptive father figure, well not so much adopted since we are pretty much blood relatives.

"You were very quiet for a few minutes Rick? Penny for your thoughts?" I looked at Lisa who since she was no longer going to need to move any of the controls floated to stand right near me.

"I can't help but think the possible negative consequences of you and the other people present here telling our commanding officer and other officers how much I have changed since our time in captivity. I can already hear some clamoring to have me dissected and studied like a bug, and others flat calling for my execution since I know the Zentradi language I must have been a sleeper agent all along."

She held me close to her and as she held me I couldn't help to control the urge I felt, I leaned close enough and began kissing her. Just as we were really beginning to enjoy the kiss the hatch of the battle pod came off and the second it was off I heard a familiar voice.

"Rick I know you are happy to be back home, but do I really need to explain to you the regulations against fraternizing with a higher ranking officer? You owe me twenty bucks, here I was thinking that you would never kiss her."

I turned around and saw the face of my brother and his girlfriend looking at us, Claudia was trying very hard not to laugh as she kept her mouth hidden behind her hands. "I want those twenty bucks by tomorrow buster, or you fix that bucket of bolts you used to call a plane."

I could not help but to laugh as I heard the man in charge of plane maintenance say that. "Well, guys it looks like we really are back home. Come on everyone let's go find Captain Global and telling him what we found out about the aliens that are attacking us."


	10. Chapter 10

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

I looked at Roy and could not help but to laugh at the way he was reacting to the way me and Lisa were behaving, "Honestly brother, there is nothing going on between me and Commander Hayes, it was all an act, in case there had been cameras and listening devices places on that battlepod."

Lisa looked at Roy and nodded her head, "Do you honestly think I am so easy or so desperate that I would fall in love with a man I spent so little time, and so know so little about him? I honestly didn't know your lover had such poor opinion of me, Claudia."

As we reached the door to the Captain's quarters she decided to knock. As we were told to enter I saw the Captain look at us with a smile on his face, and new he was at the very least happy that we had made it back alive.

"So I gather that you two managed to learn a thing or two of the giant aliens that are attacking us, mind telling me what you learned, it might help me prepare for our report to Headquarters once we have been able to establish a secure communications line."

I looked at him and understood what he wanted to know, "Well we had left on that recon mission, but then we were met with an enemy ambush it seems, and due to that Commander Hayes and her pilot were taken captive, I believe the pilot was killed due to the attack they did to disable her plane."

"My squad tried to rescue Commander Hayes, but unfortunately was met with some difficulties, meaning the difficulties came from having to fight a high ranking officer of the enemy, they apparently did not want to cause our deaths, the fight caused severe damage to my Veritech fighter and injuries to me or so I was told, the only way they had to save my life was to inject into me a blood transfusion, the only blood compatible was the high ranking enemy that caused the injuries in the first place."

The Captain looked at me and began to nod his head, as I saw that he understood what I said I decided to continue, "The giant aliens don't have children like we do, they grow new soldiers as clones, so everything they need to know to be soldiers is genetic, they pass information that way to the clones of each successive generation or to replace ones of officers that died, the transfusion indeed saved my life, but had the unexpected side effect that I learned everything as if I was the son of that Zentradi, that is what they call their species, officer that injured me."

"To make matters worse, I have a complete understanding of their language, culture, military, and armaments. I know all this because the man that is now considered my father or at least he considers me his son knew. The fact is, they consider their actions a retaliation of when the battle fortress fired the main weapon, they had no intention of starting a war, as far as I understand they were only interested in recovering the battle fortress that we call Macross."

The Captain remained quiet for a little bit, and then he looked at me and at Lisa for a second, "Why do they want the fortress bad enough that they will resort to this level of aggression, that is what I would like to know. They are sending their soldiers to their deaths, and I would like to know what exactly do they want from this fortress that can make all those death worth it."

Lisa looked at him, "Their supreme commander actually questioned us about something, something they think we know of, something they call protoculture. They were quite insistent about the subject actually. Whatever this Protoculture is must be something extremely important to them, do you have any ideas why they would value whatever that is so highly?"

I closed my eyes and tried to think anything that was linked to it and sure enough, I remembered why or at least why my father thought the Zentradi need the knowledge of Protoculture.

I opened my eyes and looked at him, nodded my head, "Yes, I do think I have a vague reason for it, it has to do with their population, to be more specific their method of reproduction. They reproduce and maintain their numbers through cloning. It is the problem of making a copy of a document, if you keep making copies of that copy the quality of the copy degrades, the same thing, they will develop genetic abnormalities, diseases and defects if they go on doing too much the entire species could die."

"The knowledge of Protoculture could have the means to randomize their genetic code, to make add to the population and keep the entire species from degrading. If you think of it along those lines, a few thousand dead would be much of a cost, if the cost of failure is the death of their or should I say our entire species."

The captain was quiet for a long moment as he looked at me several times, "So you could probably understand their transmissions as well, that might be useful and the value of this Protoculture would explain why they simply don't destroy the battle fortress. They literately can't afford to destroy it if the knowledge they need is somewhere in here."

I looked at Lisa and then at the Captain, "Aren't you going to ask me will I have a problem in shooting the enemy? Am I loyal to the people not so long ago I considered members of my species? I have to say, I am more surprised you didn't order my capture, have me tortured till you learned everything I acquired thanks to that blood transfusion and have me killed as a genetic defect or possible traitor."

The Captain began to walk towards me and he placed his hand on my shoulder, "Rick, I have no doubt that you are very much the defender of this ship and the people aboard it, I didn't ask or do any of those things because I would never consider the possibility of you becoming a traitor or discriminate you in such a way."

"Since you ask, is there something else that is bothering you?" I told him that somehow I don't know due to my body changing the way it has, but the man who donated the blood to save me does feel like he is my father, and thus the aliens I once considered my enemy do feel like they are my people.

"Somehow I think the only reason I can even think of killing them is because the human side of me desensitized me to the notion, I still don't like it from a moral point, if I could, I would like permission to disable any battle pods I fight against, instead of our right destroy them."

The Captain asked me if the battle pods could be disabled to render them unable to fight, I told him that it would depend on the type of battle pod, but in most cases yes, if the control center located behind the leg section of the battle pod was shot, it would render all sensors and fire controls inoperable. They would need to return to the ship and have that part replaced and that would take no less than eight hours.

The Captain remained quite for a very long time, I had to admit that I felt like I had just gotten into trouble by what I said, "Rick, I think you are the only one that should know about that weakness, if others knew they would use that information to make destroying the enemy that much easier for themselves. It is no secret that the people here don't particularly hold them in high regard."

I, of course, understand that better than most civilians, I was there when they landed and their actions pretty much put us in our current situation. I can also understand the desperation by some Zentradi, it was hard for me knowing what I know now to think their attacks are mere malice.

Ok, ok, at least one of them would attack for the joy of it, I just hope they don't call him. My Zentradi knowledge was not perfect, but if there is anything I do remember correctly, I hope they don't call on the man even his own men hate, the backstabber.

"Now if you will excuse us, Captain, I have to assign a new patrol schedule with my men." I was about to leave when the Captain told me that I and my subordinates actually had three days leave and that I should get my dress uniform ready. It seems that the civilian government wants a chance for a photo opportunity with the so-called space heroes who valiantly escaped enemy captivity.

That made me realize that while Zentradi culture may not be democratic, the established rank based government was not such a horrible idea after all. To have to get dressed just so that some celebrity can pin a medal, and a sleazy politician can get some photos to help his or her get elected, I will need a second shower after that.

"Did you hear skipper, they are going to give us three days leave, and to make matters even better you know that beauty pageant winner? Well, Miss Macross is going to be when they give us those medals, I am looking forward to this."

I don't know if I should call Ben Dixon an adult after hearing him say that, honestly the guy was acting like a kid in school. "You take it from me boys, all I am looking forward to is the three days leave. I haven't been able to go to the gym in a few weeks, you want to flirt with Lynn Minmay, go right ahead, I am looking for a nice workout, a shower, and my bed."

Max began to laugh, "Or are you really looking forward to three days that you can ask a certain lady out on a date or two?" I swear I want to hit Max after he said that, he just doesn't understand that the entire romance thing between me and Lisa was an act to throw off the people we thought would try and recapture us.

I will not deny it, the lady is beautiful, she really is a great person, but Max is assuming that such a lady doesn't already have someone in her life. She has a beautiful face, nice figure, respectful, loyal, intelligent and quick to understand her surroundings, how could someone like that not have at least five or six men trying to woo her?

As I told them if they actually wanted to make an impression they should get their dress uniforms ready, as we all reached the mess hall, they both went to pick stuff they wanted to eat, me I went to get myself a tall cup of coffee and a light dinner, for some odd reason I had a feeling that eating a heavy meal was not such a good idea.

"Why if it isn't Rick Hunter, tell me isn't there something you rather be kissing than that coffee mug?" I turned around and found that Claudia and Roy were sitting right next to me, one at each side of me, when did they get their food and sit without me noticing?

I looked at Claudia and then looked at Roy, "You know something brother, your girlfriend is right, there is something I rather kiss than this mug, but unfortunately, I am still on duty, I will have to wait till this entire award ceremony to end to kiss that."

Claudia must be in a good mood cause she was smiling, at least she was smiling till Roy told her that the thing I wanted to kiss was not a person but my pillow. "Look, you spent all that time alone with Lisa, and I mean that lady is usually an Ice Queen, for you to survive that it must mean that something warmed up my friend to you, it must be love."

I looked at Claudia and began shaking my head, "Claudia do I need to remind you some of us are trying to eat dinner? Look we had to pretend that we were a rather romantic couple to help us escape, but you heard her, she is not the type to as you are probably thinking fall in love with someone that quickly, what? Do you believe in love at first sight or what?"

"Trust me, after that award ceremony that lady is going to become rather popular, and that means she will have a ton of potential suitors after her, she will not even have time to think of little old me."

After twenty minutes of her teasing and comments that I wanted to be in bed with her friend, otherwise known as Commander Hayes, I began to actually realize why in the world the Zentradi didn't allow men and women to serve together.

As the dreaded event came, my squadron and Lisa were all dressed in our dress uniforms, didn't realize that this uniform would make Lisa look like that, honestly I had trouble keeping my gaze focused on the crowd, the way her uniform just seem to mold to her figure, the way she did her makeup and hair, the fact that she was standing next to me and apparently was wearing a rather nice perfume didn't help matters.

I honestly had to concentrate and call on my discipline to stop myself from looking at her, but thankfully a few of the cameras have a nice reflective shine and I did notice she did, in fact, looked beautiful.

Truth be told I was expecting someone like Jan Morris, I mean let's face it, I would never expect Lynn Minmay of winning, I know she is the waitress of our favorite restaurant. Let's face it, I always believed Max and her were involved considering he was actually asked to sing at her birthday party or so Ben tells me.

As she pinned the medal on Lisa, she kept saying some words of gratitude that were clearly scripted. The only thing I could not help was when she pinned the medal on me, she gave me a kiss on my right cheek, she smiled at me with a cute smile and moved on to pin the medals for everyone else.

Call me crazy if you want, but I somehow get the feeling she and Max have been having relationship problems, and she just used me to get even with him. All I know that after the pinch Lisa gave me, I knew two things, she was mad, and she was not going to be in a good mood for a long time, but why would she care? It's not like she loves me, she even told Claudia that we were just pretending.


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own Robotech, this is a fanfiction only.

I was called to the bridge of the space fortress, I wonder if I was in some sort of trouble or did High Command finally managed to establish a communication line with us, and of course the first thing they would request is my execution. I don't know why, but something tells me once they hear about how I changed, my execution will demanded by them. I can hear their screams calling me at best freak, at worst traitor.

As I walked into the room I heard a very upset male Zentradi screaming things that shall we say were not civil, no, not civil was the best way to describe it, "Rick, since you recent capture, and your knew knowledge of their language I would like for you to tell me what exactly are they saying in what appears to be a general open channel."

I did not even think about that, that since I know the language they would ask me to translate, I really don't want to say what these people are screaming to the Captain, I mean if they were micronians I would say do they actually kissed their mother or spouse with a mouth like that, they were using a rather colorful vocabulary that would make even the most surly sailor blush.

"Well, sir, I shall do my best, profanity aside, some of them are demanding that the people in this fortress be exterminated as if we were vermin, and another man is screaming questions of the first man's sanity, intelligence and quite possibly if he is engaging in acts of self gratification while he talks. I hear no less than seven men on each side, it seems the Zentradi are quite divided in their opinion on how to deal with us."

He looked at me and I swear he was actually smiling, "So there is half of them that want us dead, and the other I imagine don't want to fight us in case the space fortress is placed in danger of being destroyed or damaged. I see, they must be rather upset if they are openly using as you said foul language. Thank you, Rick, is there any chance that you could right a translation sheet of common used phrases and commands, I don't want to ruin your free time after all."

I looked at him and began shaking my head, "It is no bother at all Captain, if you need my aid, I shall come, it is not like I have anything else to do. My new veritech is actually still being assembled, until they finish that and install my personal data, I am pretty much grounded. I really don't have much to do."

That was when Lisa finally turned around and walked towards me, still glaring at me, it seems she is going to be in a foul mood for a long time, "Are you sure? Don't you plan to take out any time soon?"

Why would she ask me that? I honestly think she forgets that Max is the one that is currently dating her, according to him he is still in the proverbial dog house, it is really his fault, I told him time and time again that if he forgot his girlfriend's birthday she was going to be angry with him, but did he listen to me? No, he told me to mind my own business.

"Ms. Hayes, I don't think discussing such matters on the bridge is appropriate, but to answer you inquiry, you are asking the wrong person, as far as I am aware Mr. Sterling and Ms. Minmay are currently in fact enjoying time together, but if you wish to know the specifics, please forward all inquiries on the matter to my subordinate."

I looked at the Captain who was laughing, I don't find the situation amusing, "I shall call you again, or I will send you a recording of a transmission I might need you to translate for me. You are dismissed, and yes, conversation of romantic relationships should be handled in a more private setting. They tend to distract the bridge personnel."

Honestly, ever since I returned, and maybe in large part due to the fact that my genetic structure has changed so drastically, I feel like I am not the same person I once was. In the past I would have made a quick remark on her obvious jealousy, I would have turned her accusations right back at her.

This time the idea did come to my head, but it was squashed flat by the realization that it was an infantile and meaningless idea, that I had hundreds of other more important things to worry about that, that this kind of act was a waste of my precious time. I simply decided to inform her of her mistaken assumptions.

I walk through the halls and hear the talk of the people around me, and I can not help but to think how utterly foolish that is, how wasteful, or irresponsible these micronians are. I know I was born one of them, but little by little as time went by my very thoughts and way of thinking are changing, and what is worse, I notice the changes less and less.

Today as I walk through the decks of the fortress most of them call home, I could find no less than fifteen ways to reinforce the ship, I also found that windows or view ports were a safety hazard, even as a couple looked out of one and she said how pretty the stars looked, pretty? Giants balls of flaming gas, no better than a fusion reactor, and that is pretty?

I walked towards the lift and sure enough there was someone I was not expecting running towards me, Claudia, she was screaming at me to hold the lift, I of course did, she is practically family, so of course I did. I expect her to either scream at me for what I said, or tease me about how Lisa behaves.

"Don't you think you were a little too mean with my friend? I know that you just came from captivity among the enemy, but the fact that she became that jealous from a simple peck on your cheek well that tells me my friend does feel something for you, something she is not willing to admit."

Very well, I was wrong, she was going to do both, I finally reached the floor I wanted and was ready to leave, but she decided to follow me. I know better than to go to the mess hall at this hour, there will be no available seats, and I know of only one place where Lisa will not go to, at least I hope I am right about this.

"Stop ignoring me and tell me! What do you think the feeling my friend is so desperately hiding?" I did not even bother to turn around and asked her if rage was still an option for the answer to that question. "I was used as a means to punish someone, Minmay loves Max, even if my subordinate thinks nothing more of it than her being a good friend. Her goal was to spark jealousy in him, to make him realize he loves her, but it failed, and ended up punishing me instead."

I walked through the entrance to the restaurant as the automatic doors opened, "I am the one that was physically harmed, insulted, and accused of something I never did, so the answer to your question my dear sister is this, rage, she is furious and trust me she is not doing a good job in hiding it."

Minmay does look nice in that dress I have to admit to that, she brought me a jug of lemonade and a pair of glasses, something to drink while she got the menus I would think. "Welcome to the first chinese restaurant in space, now may I have your order, would you like to have something from our menu, something to drink or me?"

I did not find that funny, not funny at all, I gave her back the menu and took a deep breath, "I am going to have my usual, and my sister will have the chicken chow mien, I think she could do will a little crow in her diet, and congratulations in winning Ms, Macross."

She took off while giggling, I don't think I will ever understand the way she reacted, I was simply stating the obvious and a delayed congratulations on her recent achievements. "Now there, if you were that nice to Lisa, you would have one happy significant other, and we would not have to suffer thanks to your lover's quarrel. She is not easy or pleasant to work with when she is in such a horrid mood."

I began to serve myself a glass and I poured one for her, "It is irrelevant, she clearly stated that she only acted to be infatuated with me to prevent surveillance in the battle pod that we occupied during our escape. She should concentrate on her duties, and not allow her hormones to interfere in the fulfillment of her duties."

She took a sip from her glass and I could feel her gaze on my face, "You might say that, you may pretend that you are all business, but those blushing cheeks I saw back on the bridge and here tell me otherwise. How long will it be before you finally admit it, you are like my friend, you think of her as a beauty, and you constantly think of her, now come on, fess up."

I finished my glass in a single gulp and looked at her, "She is beautiful, that is stating the obvious, but I get the feeling she would be happier with one of her kind, instead of the mutant freak that she apparently hates. Trust me Claudia, I am changing more and more as time goes on, and if we reach earth I imagine my future is to be a lab rat, or be executed and dissected like a bug."

She poured me another glass, and that is when Minmay brought our food, as she left she touched my hand, "Admit it, the only reason why you have not made an attempt to woe my angry friend is because you fear rejection, that sounds like a very human reaction to your current situation, you didn't hesitate when you first asked me out, but with her, you are not as eager to ask her out."

I had to admit deep down that is one reason, the other is that I simply could not believe that a radiant beauty like Lisa Hayes did not actually have a battalion of men trying to win her over, she was beautiful, smart, and passionate, she was loyal to a fault, confident and a backbone I actually respect. How could a lady like that not have suitors?

"If she could actually allow me to get to know her, but something tells me she is actually trying to make it impossible for me to get close to her, I am no psychologist by any stretch of the imagination, but something tells me she suffered a trauma, a trauma involving someone she in a relationship with, severe enough that somehow makes her afraid to let anyone become close to her like that."

I began eating my food, and put a little extra thought into what I was going to say next, "Back on the Zentradi ship, she only first kissed me because the Zentradi's supreme commander pretty much demanded it, and the second time because it was a means to try an escape, not once was her decision alone. I still feel guilty about that actually."

I looked at my plate and I felt a hand touch mine, "You and the others were in a tough situation, I am sure Lisa does not hold it against you, and again, the way she behaved after the kiss you got on your cheek, that was not the reason of a disapproving superior, it was the reaction of a jealous lover. So trust me little brother, you are having an effect on that iron armor of her, if you keep at it, she might just decide to lower her defenses and let you in her heart."

I took another drink of lemonade and asked if that was before or after pigs learned to fly? She hit me on my shoulder, and told me that pigs already know how to fly, after all I fly my veritech on the regular basis.

Ha,bloody,ha, very funny, "Seriously Rick, you seen how she gets when she is mad, do you think any man would be suicidal or crazy enough to want to be anywhere near that war hawk? I can only say, you have been the only man I know that has made her react the way she has, so that at the very least means she cares about you, even if she is not willing to admit it."

I looked at her and could not help but to tell her, that as lovely as it is being told repeatedly by my sister-in law that I should try and form a romantic relationship with her friend, the very person that she once slept with, and apparently still thinks her friend loves me, how am I going to get her to finally drop this particular subject?

"As lovely as it is, seeing you worry about my well being and all, I need to finish this meal, pay for both of meals, and then go to check on my new plane, last but not least run a systems check and a test flight all before our ship gets attacked again, so you will excuse me but I simply don't have much time to even think about romance, I am pretty sure Ms. Hayes would actually agree with me, that duty comes first."

I finished paying, I was ready to leave but she decided to follow me, "If you keep thinking like that, you will prove my point, both of you are practically made for each other."


End file.
